Forensic Toxicology THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 1998 ISSUE THE POISON SLEUTHS POISONING BY CADMIUM -Dr. Anil Aggrawal "Good morning doctor. Oh, my God, what are you doing today? You have the dead body of a young girl today. What happened to her? Please tell me." "Good morning Tarun. The name of this young girl is Kanta, and she died this morning in the hospital. She was a chemistry student and about 19 year old. Yesterday night she took part in a party thrown by Sohan who was her classmate. Three other students also participated in that party, two of whom were girls. So in all there were 2 boys and 3 girls, including Kanta and Sohan. All are chemistry students studying in a local college. At the party, Kanta took some food and some soft drinks. Soon after that she complained of a choking sensation around her throat and excessive salivation. She also had a feeling of nausea and vomited several times, and had diarrhoea too. She was rushed to a local hospital, where the doctors diagnosed that she was suffering from gastroenteritis, a kind of infection of the stomach and intestines which gives rise to these symptoms. It was thought that she had some form of food poisoning. But what was surprising was that the other four students did not have any problem whatsoever. Had they suffered the same symptoms, the death could have been passed off as a natural death due to gastroenteritis, but since all the others are well off, the police has suspected some foul play and has brought her dead body before me. Of course they have requested me to conduct a post-mortem on the dead body and tell them about the cause of death." "Oh, so how are you going to find out the cause? Do you think that there has been some foul play somewhere?" "Well, anything is possible in this world. I contacted the doctors in the local hospital where she was taken, and also went through her hospital case sheet. What caught my attention was that Kanta was suffering from severe aches and pains too. And these aches and pains started only after she drank the soft drinks, and ate the foodstuff at Sohan’s house. I do not know of any form of gastroenteritis where you also get generalized aches and pains...." "So what are you trying to arrive at?" "Tarun, I have made a detailed study of the symptoms which Kanta displayed, and a very unusual poison is coming to my mind as the possible cause of her death" "Doctor, what is that poison? Please tell me. I am getting curious." "Tarun it is a very unusual poison- cadmium chloride." "Cadmium Chloride? Never heard of its being used as a poison. Is it a poison really? "Yeah it is indeed a very deadly poison. If fact its very discovery is related to its toxicity..." "Really? How? Seems like we are in for another of your interesting historical stories." "Yeah, it does make an interesting story. The story starts in the early part of 19th century. Zinc oxide was then widely used for a number of ailments, and was freely available at chemists shops. To ensure that the medicines were not adulterated, the Government of Germany in those days employed district physicians. Their job was to go to chemists’ shops and find out if the medicines they sold were spurious or not. One such physician named Rolow – who was incharge of the province of Hannover - got the reports of toxicity from zinc oxide being sold at local chemists’ shops. From the reports of symptoms, he suspected arsenic poisoning (for details of arsenic poisoning, see Science Reporter February 1997 issue). So he went around from shop to shop, collected zinc oxide samples from the shops and put them to test. One of the standard methods in those times to test for various oxides was to treat them with hydrogen sulphide. This caused various metallic sulphides to form which could be detected from their color. When Rolow treated zinc oxide with hydrogen sulphide, he got a yellow precipitate strongly resembling the sulphide of arsenic. From this he concluded that the samples of zinc oxide were indeed impure- they contained arsenic oxide as well." "So did they really contain arsenic?" "Wait. The local supply of zinc oxide was made by one influential businessman- a man called Hermann. He was also a chemist by profession. He got his own samples tested for arsenic in his own way. He employed all chemical tests known for arsenic at that time and came to the conclusion that his samples did not contain arsenic at all. On the strength of his analysis, he applied to the local authorities, requesting them to restart his supply of zinc oxide to the local chemists’s shops." "So how was this controversy resolved?" "To resolve the controversy, the authorities of Hannover employed the services of a very reputed chemist of those times- Professor Friedrich Stromeyer (1776-1835), head of the department of chemistry at the Göttingen University. The added advantage was that he also held the post of Inspector General of all Hanover chemists’ shops. Hermann’s factory was situated in a place called Schönebek. Samples of zinc oxide were sent from Schönebek to Göttingen where Professor Stromeyer got to work. Quite intelligently first he investigated how zinc oxide was being produced. He found that chemists in Schönebek calcined zinc carbonate to obtain zinc oxide. So he started from zinc carbonate instead, and heated it strongly. To his surprise he got a yellow colored compound. He was expecting zinc oxide, which as we all know is a white colored compound. He asked both Hermann and Rolow to explain that." "Oh, so even the Great Stromeyer was confused, is it?" "Not in the least. On the contrary he gave enough opportunities to both sides to explain their stand before he got to work. Interestingly both sides gave wrong explanations. Hermann explained away the color by saying that the samples contained iron, although it is not known how that explained the yellow color. For him it was better to explain by resorting to something like iron which is a natural constituent of the body, and can do no harm to anyone. Well, to be sure, even iron can be poisonous, but for that it should be administered in very large quantities. Rolow, who was intent on getting Hermann’s factory closed, explained away the color by contending that the samples contained arsenic. After listening to both sides, Stromeyer got to work and discovered a hitherto unknown metal in the samples. It looked very much like zinc, but could easily be separated from it by means of hydrogen sulphide. So much did it look like zinc that Professor Stromeyer preferred to call it Cadmium- after cadmea, a word which in Greek means zinc ore." "Oh, very interesting indeed!" "In fact how the zinc ore came to be called cadmea is in itself an interesting story. Legend has it that a Phoenician Cadmus was the first to have found a zinc rock and to notice that it gave a golden tinge to copper during smelting. It is from his name that zinc ore finally came to be called Cadmea. You may be surprised to know that naming chemical elements was a big fashion in 19th century Europe, becuase new and new elements were discovered almost every year, and it became fashionable to name elements after various Gods, legends, scientists, countries, even rivers. Element Rhenium for instance is named after the German river Rhine! In 1818, when Professor Stromeyer published his paper on Cadmium, many people came forward with the suggestion that they had already discovered that element first and even suggested names for this new element. German chemist Kersten, for instance, suggested that the new element be called melinium (yellow) after the color of its sulphide. Two other scientists Gilbert and John proposed two more names. One of them suggested that it be called junonium (after the newly discovered asteriod Juno in 1804) and the other suggested that it be called klaprothium, after the German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth (1743-1817), but ultimately the name given by Stromeyer stuck." "Oh, this is most interesting. Tell me some other important facts about Cadmium." "Tarun, Cadmium is used in a wide range of industrial processes, which include electroplating to impart corrosive resistance to ironware. Cadmium compounds are used as pigments, as components of batteries and photographic materials and cadmium is also used as a plastic stabilizer. Cadmium sulphate in a 1% solution, is a constituent of a shampoo used in the treatment of seborrheic dermatitis and dandruff." "So we were talking about the Cadmium poisoning. How can it occur?" "Cadmium poisoning can occur accidentally in a variety of circumstances. In the 1940s, it was usual for people to have their kitchenware electroplated with cadmium, as this makes them corrosion resistant. In the very beginning, Cadmium coating was deposited by immersing the metallic ware in molten cadmium...." "Sorry to interrupt you doctor, but melting cadmium must be quite a task. That too for just coating metals. Wasn’t it a very costly process?" "No, not at all. Cadmium melts very easily. It’s melting point is only 3210 C. In fact, its such a low melting point makes it a very suitable candidate for making low melting alloys. Among them Wood’s alloy containing 12.5 percent of cadmium was developed as far back as 1860 by a British Engineer Wood. These low melting alloys are used as solders and as the material for delicate and intricate castings, as well as in automatic fire-warning systems. Okay so I was telling you about the cadmium coating on kitchen ware. Later on, the coating was done with the help of electroplating. Unfortunately organic acids, many of which are used in day-to-day cooking such as vinegar (acetic acid), imli (tartaric acid) and lemon (citric acid) can dissolve cadmium from the thin electroplated layer, and this caused several cases of poisoning. In one accident which involved three adults and five children, the source of poison was "lemonade" ices prepared with citric acid in metal trays of a reconditioned refrigerator. All were sick and four also had diarrhoea, but recovery was complete within 24 hours. The citric acid solution contained 279 ppm (parts per million) of cadmium and it was estimated that each ice contained about 3 mg of cadmium. The ill effects resemble those of zinc poisoning. It is thought that the salts formed by organic acids are converted into cadmium chloride by HCl in the stomach. When the cause of these poisonings was discovered, the practice of cadmium electroplating was abandoned. But by no means are the incidences of accidental poisoning by cadmium ceased altogether. As late as in 1981, a case of accidental cadmium was reported. In this case, the victims inhaled fumes from a plated shelf of a refrigerator, used as an improvised barbeque grill!" "Oh, that is certainly most extraordinary!" "Yeah, that is right Tarun. Accidental cases of cadmium poisoning can also occur from cadmium fumes and dust. Cases have been reported where the poisoning occurred in some women who were using a cadmium powder to clean silver. These cases occur especially if the cleaning was being done in small, ill-ventilated rooms. It is interesting to keep in mind that inhaled cadmium is about six times more dangerous than ingested cadmium. Thus poisoning from inhaled cadmium fumes is much more dangerous. We have seen that in earlier times, metals were frequently electroplated with cadmium. Interestingly this practice has given rise to some cases of "delayed" poisoning now. Scrap metal from those times – if cut, dismantled, or recycled today, especially if with the help of oxyacetylene torches – can give rise to dangerous levels of cadmium fumes. Cases of fatal poisoning in such circumstances have been reported. It is important to realize that since cadmium was once used to electroplate metals, and there may be several such metallic objects in an average house, a housefire can give rise to cadmium fumes, and firemen must wear protective masks. There was a time when carbon tetrachloride was used as a fire extinguisher. But when carbon tetrachloride came in contact with hot metal surfaces, it gave rise to the poisonous phosgene (see Science Reporter Jan 1998 "Death by Phosgene"). Cadmium fumes, if produced during these fires were often confused with phosgene gas, and this caused serious blunders in treatment of such poisoned victims. But now since the use of carbon tetrachloride in fire extinguishers has been banned, chances of such graves mistakes are very remote." "This is very interesting. Have cases of poisoning occurred in such circumstances?" "Oh yes. In one interesting incident which occurred in 1956 in a chemistry laboratory in Leeds (Great Britain), some cadmium propionate was being dried in an oven for experimental purposes. This is a safe procedure as long as the temperature does not rise above 1000 C; above this temperature fumes of cadmium oxide and propionic acid are produced. Because of an inadvertent mistake, although the temperature of the oven reached 1600 C, it was read only as 600 C. Because of this, an explosion occurred, followed by a fire, and thick red fumes were seen to be coming out of that room. Four of the firemen, who entered the room to put out the fire inhaled those fumes, and one died after 6 days. On postmortem examination, significant amounts of cadmium were found in his internal body organs." "Oh, I see. Is cadmium found in some of our day to day products too?" "Tarun, Cadmium is found in significant amounts in unfiltered cigarettes, and this can be a cause of poisoning. Twenty unfiltered cigarettes a day can yield 6 mg of cadmium, of which the smoker may retain upto 65%." "Doctor you said that Kanta was suffering from muscle aches and pains and from this you deduced that she might be suffering from Cadmium poisoning. Can you elaborate on that?" "Oh, sure. This symptom is so prominent in Cadmium poisoning that it has even given a name to a disease caused by Cadmium. Let me elaborate. An outbreak of food poisoning due to Cadmium occurred in Japan in 1945. The syndrome has been called itai-itai disease, which when translated in English means ouch-ouch disease. The syndrome has been so called because it caused severe pain in the back and legs (which forced the victims to cry "ouch-ouch" so to say!). In more serious cases, there was decalcification and fracture of bone. Dislocations were also found to occur. For some strange reason, the complete syndrome was restricted to post-menopausal women, who had had several pregnancies. On investigation it was found that a local mine – the Kamioke zinc-cadmium-lead mine – released its effluents (containing cadmium) in the local Jintzu river. The water from this river was used both for drinking as well as for irrigating the local paddy fields. Thus cadmium found its way in the rice grown there as well. Cadmium ingested through intake of water as well as rice caused chronic cadmium poisoning, which was responsible for this syndrome. For the osteomalacia, undernutrition (common in post-war Japan) was also thought to be a factor." "So now it is becoming clear that somebody mixed Cadmium salts in Kanta’s drinks. Tell me has Cadmium been used for murder before?" "Not many times, but I do remember a case which was even reported in The Yorkshire Post of July 23, 1981. In this case two youths aged 14 and 15 administered cadmium chloride mixed in an orange drink to eleven children. They suffered from sickness and blurred vision, but fortunately no one died. The younger boy had strong political views and intended to poison his opponents. They had stolen the chemical from the Humberside Education Authority." "Doctor, you have already told me the symptoms one experiences when one ingests the poison. What happens when one inhales Cadmium fumes?" "Tarun, the initial symptoms and signs are sensation of constriction around the throat, a nasty taste in the mouth, irritation of the upper respiratory tract manifested by troublesome cough and redenning of the eyes. After a latent period of about one to two hours grave respiratory symptoms develop rapidly. Signs of pulmonary oedema (a technical name of a condition in which lungs are water logged) are also seen. The prominent respiratory symptoms are difficulty in respiration, pain in the chest, malaise, shivering and profuse sweating." "Has Cadmium been administered in some other way also?" "Tarun, I know of an interesting case of poisoning by intravenous injection which occurred in Japan. The patient had to be given an injection of calcium bromide, but by a rare accident, an injection of cadmium chloride was given. I may tell you that when Cadmium is given as a poison, the person usually dies in 24 hours, although death may be delayed for 7 to 14 days. If death occurs within 24 hours, the cause of death is shock due to loss of fluids. If the death is delayed, the cause is likely to be acute kidney failure or cardiopulmonary depression (depression of heart and lungs)." "Doctor, you have certainly made most interesting conclusions. Now how are you going to conclusively prove that Kanta was given Cadmium?" "Tarun, I have taken out Kanta’s internal organs, and have tested them for Cadmium. They have all given positive tests for Cadmium. Since it is not a normal body constitutent, it is clear that Cadmium has been given to her by someone. Following this I told police the whole story, and they investigated the death further. But this time they had murder in their minds, so they investigated more deeply. They found out that Sohan had been spurned in love by Kanta, and he wanted to take revenge. He stole some Cadmium Chloride from the chemistry lab, and then invited Kanta to his house. Although Kanta had spurned his love offer, she did not say no to his party as she wanted to continue a clean friendship with him. Moreover he told her that some other friends were coming over too. So there was nothing to be afraid of. When she and other friends arrived at Sohan’s house, he offered them cold drinks, and in the cold drink of Kanta, he mixed Cadmium Chloride. He probably chose this poison as this is such an unusual poison, and he thought that he could get away with that. But he didn’t know that forensic science can catch even the most intelligent of criminals. So even all his knowledge of chemistry could not come to his rescue." "Oh, how very clever of you doctor. If you had not made such an intelligent and logical deduction, Sohan could be roaming in free world today. Criminals like him are very dangerous and should be put behind bars. This was a most interesting discussion. Tell me what are you going to tell me the next time?" "Tarun, next time, I would tell you about a very interesting poison- Aluminium Phosphide. "

Main page > Vol-15 No-1 > Book001 LinkedIn WhatsApp X (Twitter) Facebook Copy link Anil Aggrawal's Book Review Journal Volume-1, Number-1 ( July - December ) Book Review (Technical Section) Basic Sciences as applied to Forensic Medicine and Toxicology By Anil Aggrawal A forensic masterclass in basic sciences for postgraduates. The current book by the Author is an attempt- novel and unique, in the sense that the effort is inspired by the Indian post-graduate curriculum designed by the erstwhile Medical Council of India (known as National Medical Commission now) for M.D. course in the discipline of Forensic Medicine, more specifically the Paper-I of the Theory examination. The import of the title “Basic Sciences as Applied to Forensic Medicine and Toxicology” is very wide in scope and pertains to all the relevant anatomy, biochemical and physiologic principles, etc which is the basis of understanding the morbid anatomy and application of those to better understand the core Forensic Pathology. The book is an attempt to provide a one stop solution to the postgraduates in the discipline who earlier had to scroll through voluminous texts of Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, etc to derive examination oriented content for better presentation in the examinations. Although the relevant basic sciences applicable to particular topics of interest in Forensic Medicine have already been provided by the Author in his earlier books viz. Textbook of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Injuries- Forensic and Medico Legal Aspects and Clinical and Forensic Toxicology, the present book goes several leaps ahead to explain most commonly asked topics from the entire ream of basic sciences which are some of the emerging domains e.g. stem cells, immunohistochemistry and molecular pathology- to name a few. Yet, the book remains connected to the very soul of Forensic Medicine, Traumatology and Toxicology by referring back to prior cited texts and thus avoiding repetition and maintaining chronology stimulating the reader and allowing for both horizontal and vertical integration, which is also the essence of Competency Based Medical Education Curriculum. The text is amply studded with memory aids and some of the handmade diagrams by the Author- one of particular note is memory aid designed for remembering cranial nerves on Page No 18, which makes the anatomical orientation of the various cranial nerves with respect to each other as well as vastly simplifies the topographic anatomy. Not to suffice, the text contains numerous demonstration videos which are a rarity in the existing literature and help the reader in grasping the basic concept e.g. experimental demonstration of the law of Laplace given on page no 51, which helps in conceptual understanding of the abstract terminologies. General Pathology given in Chapter 4 is a welcome inclusion as it helps in understanding the basic pathologic principles which are the basis for understanding and interpreting Forensic Pathology. A clear differentiation between Septicemia, sepsis and septic shock, based on updated scientific criteria is heartening to see on Page no’s 96 and 97. Another exciting feature of the book is the innumerable case studies which make the topics both entertaining to read and further act as reminders how one particular development has a legal bearing or implication. Chapter 6 discusses general pharmacological principles which have importance in the field of clinical and forensic toxicology. Questionnaire towards the end of each topic are though provoking e.g. anti-neoplastic drug for homicide brings one to an old case of murder by means of Lomustine, which is a drug employed for brain tumor treatment but the aplastic anemia and multi-organ failure which are the consequence of it’s overdose resemble natural death. This is significant for even clinicians/ emergency physicians who treat a significant number of accidental drug over-dosages to be mindful of the drug history- both prescriptions as well as Over-the-counter (OTC). The chapter on “Radiology as Applied to Forensic Medicine and Toxicology” is very thoughtfully designed considering the advent of Virtual Autopsy at AIIMS in 2021 by the Government of India after the Virtopsy project under Prof Richard Dirnhofer of the Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Bern, Switzerland. The radiographs important from the point of view of a forensic practitioner have been given along with comparative diagrammatic representation for simplification purposes. Readers shall be in a better position to interpret the basic postmortem radiographic findings if and when needed. National Board of Examinations (NBE) has been asking one question every year in Paper I of Forensic Medicine DNB Theory Examination based upon biostatistics accounting for 10 marks. The inclusion of statistics as applied to Forensic Medicine and Toxicology in Chapter 8 of the book is a welcome step to strengthen the students with the most essential and desired topics e.g. Null Hypothesis, P-value, Z score, etc. which could be asked. The next chapter on Research Methodology is educative for the thesis going and any researcher to understand the various study designs and how to calculate the sample size for a proposed research study. Types of citations and referencing systems have also been elaborated upon and the various indexing systems have been deliberated upon. This is very much needed for a novice researcher as imprecise understanding of these may create impediments in the growth and advancement of the latter. The last few chapters focus on infrastructural requirements related to setting up of a Museum and Analytical Toxicological Laboratory in the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology. Basic chemistry has been given at the end to simplify the understanding of subtlety and nuances of Forensic Toxicology. Few sample questions have been provided in the appendix which could further be enhanced through the addition of previous year questions from various universities. Tentative thesis/ research topics given in the appendix give important food for thought to the examinees and the research oriented ones. Overall the book is a novel and fresh initiative in an unexplored genre/ theme which will bode well to the lot to whom it is intended to cover- postgraduates in Forensic Medicine & Toxicology and the faculty. - Dr. Varun Modgil He is currently working as Assistant Professor at Dayanand Medical College & Hospital, Ludhiana, Punjab. He was Senior Resident at Postgraduate Medical Education & Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh. He deposed as an expert witness at various courts in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh. He has completed his D.N.B. in Forensic Medicine and also published articles in various National & International journals and also delivered guest lectures in National Conferences on Forensic Medicine. He can be contacted at dr_varun_modgil@dmch.edu ,

Forensic Toxicology THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE JANUARY 1998 ISSUE THE POISON SLEUTHS DEATH BY PHOSGENE -Dr. Anil Aggrawal "Good morning doctor. Oh, my God, what are you doing today? You have the dead body of a young man today. His eyes look suffused. What happened to him? Please tell me." "Good morning Tarun. The name of this 36 year old man is Manhar. He is a welder by profession and was working for the last five years as a welder in Messers Arihant Welders Ltd. Welders as you know work with hot torches, and seal metallic objects. He used to weld metallic pipes in a small confined space in basement. Yesterday he was suffering from common cold, but he reached his workplace at 9 am as usual and started welding pipes in the basement. After sometime, a cup of tea and some snacks were sent to him by the management as he was having common cold. This was not a usual practice, but as he was ill and the management wanted quick work on that day, this sympathetic gesture was made. He took tea and snacks and got back to work. Soon he started feeling as if his throat was dry and burning. His eyes began itching, and there was a copious outflow of tears. He took it merely to be an aggravation of his common cold symptoms, and kept on working. Soon however he started coughing violently. Still he did not take things seriously. He took some water to soothe his throat and continued working. When the cough became unbearable, he came up and told about this experience to the manager on duty. He asked him to relax on a side chair. Soon thereafter he died." "Oh, sure enough this is a mysterious death. What do you think happened in this case?" "A few facts about Manhar would be in order before I proceed with this story. Manhar was a Union leader, and for the last three months was fighting with the management for better working conditions and salary. I have talked to the Union and its other leaders. They all hold Manhar in great respect. They have come out with a most outrageous suggestion, and in fact that is part of the reason, why his body is with me today." "What have they suggested doctor? Please let me know." "Well, the Union leaders think that the management has secretly poisoned Manhar. There is no secret of the fact that the management did want to sack Manhar, the moment he took up the cause of workers. But they couldn't do so, because the Union threatened to go on strike. Since then the Management was thinking of various ways and means of doing away with him. The Union leaders- as well as the family members -think that the management sent poisonous tea and snacks to Manhar on that fateful day. Manhar was naive enough to think that the Management was being friendly to him, and took the tea. The fact that Manhar started having symptoms of throat irritation, redness of eyes and coughing immediately thereafter has lent strength to their suspicion." "Well come to think of doctor, even I think that he might have been poisoned." "Tarun, I have made a habit of examining the scene of crime always before starting the autopsy. So before starting the autopsy on this case, I asked police to take me to the place where he was working. I was surprised to find that he was working in a really cramped place in the basement. The place had a rather musty odour. "Perhaps you are suggesting that he died of suffocation. But he was working there daily for the last five years, and nothing happened to him!" "Yes that's right. But I looked around and found some strange looking cans there. I enquired about these cans and was told by the Management staff, that they contained dry-cleaning fluid. They were soon going to expand into dry-cleaning business and for this purpose had bought dry-cleaning fluid and had stored the cans there. Some of the cans were lying open...." "Sorry to interrupt you doctor, but is this observation of any help in this murder investigation?" "Oh yes, surely it is. When you look at all the facts, you can pinpoint the probable cause of his death." "Sorry doctor. I can't make any head or tail of the facts you have just mentioned." "Tarun dry-cleaning fluid usually contain chlorinated solvents, such as carbon tetrachloride or tricholoroethylene. I investigated about the contents of that dry cleaning fluid and found out that it contained tricholoroethylene. It is a well known fact that welding in a poorly ventilated, confined space in the presence of chlorinated solvents can cause phosgene to form rapidly in lethal concentrations. After I found the dry cleaning cans there, and saw how cramped the place was, I immediately came to the conclusion that Manhar must have died of phosgene poisoning. There were some additional pointers to my hunch. In the first place the place had a musty odour much like the actual smell of phosgene...." "But Manhar never noticed the smell. If phosgene was forming, he must have noticed it." "Phosgene is not a particularly offensive smelling gas. Its odour has been described as musty, resembling that of fresh mown hay or green corn. Of course, in high concentrations phosgene is rather pungent and mildly irritating, but Manhar was having severe cold on that day and it is quite possible that he couldn't notice the smell because of his cold. In addition to the smell, the other things, that go in favor of phosgene poisoning are the peculiar symptoms that he displayed...." "Oh, well, I am getting the idea. You certainly are a clever doctor. But let us begin from the beginning. Tell me something about phosgene first, so I could follow you better" "Tarun, Phosgene is a colorless gas, about 3.43 times heavier than air. It liquefies at 80 C. Phosgene is an acidic chloride and its chemical formula is COCl2 . It is known by several other names. Some of these are Carbonic dichloride, carbonyl chloride, carbon oxychloride, and chloroformyl chloride. It has a musty odor resembling fresh mown hay or green corn as I have already told you. Because of these peculiar properties, and especially the fact that it is heavier than air, it was used extensively in gas warfare in World War I, and caused 80 per cent of the deaths by gas in that conflict. Fortunately, gas warfare was sparingly used in World War II, otherwise the casualties could have been much more. A curious fact is that smokers report a flat, metallic taste when smoking in the presence of phosgene. Phosgene does not occur naturally and was first synthesized by Sir Humphry Davy in 1812 by means of passing carbon monoxide and chlorine through charcoal. It was quite natural for a curious mind to do such an experiment, because these two were the most poisonous gases known at that time, and one would have thought, he could perhaps create a deadlier gas by mixing the two chemically. In a way, he succeeded too, because phosgene is in fact deadlier than both the other gases. According to most estimates, Carbon monoxide can prove fatal if inhaled in a concentration of 1000 ppm for sometime....." "Sorry to interrupt you doctor, but would you tell me the meaning of ppm?" "Sure, ppm is an abbreviation of parts per million. When we talk of the toxicity of gases, we usually talk in terms of ppm. If I mix 1 cc of a poisonous gas with ordinary air in such a way that the final volume of the mixture turns out to be 1 million cc, the concentration of the poisonous gas in that mixture would be referred to as 1 ppm. Of course you can understand that to make the final mixture to be 1 million cc, I would have to use 999,999 cc of ordinary air. Similarly if I mix 1000 cc of a poisonous gas with 999,000 cc of air, the resulting mixture would measure 1 million cc and the concentration of poisonous gas in that mixture would be 1000 ppm." "Oh, that is quite clear doctor. So you were telling me about the lethality of certain gases." "Yes, I told you about the lethality of Carbon monoxide. For chlorine the fatal concentration has been estimated to be somewhat lesser; about 400 ppm, but phosgene kills rapidly in as low concentration as 50 ppm. Its lethality is compounded by the fact, that it is not a particularly irritating gas, being only mildly irritating and that too in high concentrations. Because of this curious fact, the victim does not make any attempt to run away from the gas, as he would do if he were exposed to, say, chlorine. This is what happened in Manhar's case. In fact phosgene is such a dangerous gas that cylinders of phosgene are not normally supplied by the manufacturers unless they have satisfied themselves that the purchaser and his premises are satisfactory." "But why would anyone want to buy such a deadly gas doctor?" "Tarun, Phosgene is an important industrial chemical being used in the synthesis or manufacture of isocyanates, polyurethane, polycarbonate resins, aniline dyes, pharmaceuticals, plastics, and insecticides. It is also used in the "Uranium enrichment" process. Because of its wide use in industry, there is always a danger of workers getting dangerously exposed to it. Currently it is generally agreed that a Maximum Allowable Concentration (MAC) of phosgene should be 1.0 ppm of gas, which means that during a 10 hour continuous working period, there should be no more than 0.1 ppm of the gas in the environment (0.1 ppm x 10 hours = 1 ppm). Phosgene can form by burning of several compounds, most important of which is polyurethane. This is the chemical with which furniture upholsteries are made. In December, 1987, in Tampa, Florida, an individual was filling an air mattress with a hair dryer when the mattress exploded, burned and released phosgene into the apartment. This occurred because the mattress was made of polyurethane. This gas represents one of the many hazards to fire-fighting personnel and fire victims for similar reasons. Welding in a poorly ventilated, confined space in the presence of chlorinated solvents or other halides can cause phosgene to form rapidly in lethal concentrations as I have already told you. You would be surprised to know that phosgene was also implicated in the Bhopal tragedy that occurred in our country in December 1984..." "Yes, that certainly surprises me doctor. Because I was under the impression that the gas responsible for the tragedy was Methyl Isocyanate (MIC)." "Oh, sure it was. But that was just one of the main gases involved. MIC in turn is made from phosgene and methylamine and is used as an intermediate product in the manufacture of carbamate insecticide Carbaryl, or Sevin, the chemical which Union Carbide used to make. On that fateful day nearly 50,000 pounds of stored MIC was released in vapor and liquid forms over a period of 2 hours. Because of the hypothesized reactions that took place within the storage tank and in the surrounding atmosphere, it is thought that MIC, phosgene, and hydrogen cyanide all played a significant role in this disaster." "That's certainly a good addition to my knowledge doctor. Tell me doctor, how does phosgene kill?" "Tarun, phosgene damages the body in several ways. It slowly hydrolyzes in mucus membrane water to produce carbon dioxide and hydrochloric acid. Because this hydrolysis tends to occur slowly, phosgene is less irritating to the mucous membrane of the upper airway and eyes and therefore penetrates more deeply into the lungs. Formation of hydrochloric acid within the lungs causes damage to lung cells. This causes water to ooze out of the blood into the lungs. This in turn causes lungs to become water logged, a condition medically known as pulmonary edema. This is a very important and conspicuous finding in deaths due to phosgene. I have examined Manhar's lungs, and they are severely water logged. Hydrochloric acid can also cause red blood cells to break down, a process medically known as hemolysis. This usually occurs at high concentrations. There are other complex reactions too, which cause severe kidney and liver damage." "Doctor, earlier you said that Manhar's symptoms also led you to conclude phosgene poisoning. Can you tell me what are the symptoms experienced in phosgene poisoning." "Oh sure. In concentrations of 3 ppm, phosgene causes dryness and burning of the throat. At 4 ppm, it causes eye irritation, redness of eyes, and watering of eyes. At 5-10 ppm, it causes coughing. Exposure to 25 ppm for 30 minutes is very dangerous, and even brief exposures to 50 ppm or greater is rapidly fatal. You will remember that Manhar displayed roughly the same symptoms. 80% of mortalities occur within 48 hours of the initial exposure, which may be considered as its fatal period. There are no specific diagnostic tests for phosgene exposure. A detailed and meticulous history and crime scene examination is the only likey thing to help. And that certainly has helped me. Come let us tell the police that the management is innocent. They have not given any poison to Manhar. But certainly they were careless to keep those cans in the basement. The management may be charged for being careless, but certainly the charge of murder can not be proved." "Oh, how very clever of you doctor. This was a most interesting discussion. Tell me what are you going to tell me the next time?" "Tarun, next time, I would tell you about a very deadly poison- Sodium Monofluoroacetate, commonly known as SMFA."

SCIENCE IN CRIME DETECTION-31 WHEN SEX PERVERSIONS LEAD TO ACCIDENTAL HANGING This time I am going to tell you about an extremely interesting case, which had completely baffled all police experts. On 24.11.1994, I was called to a scene of death. It was a dense forest on the outskirts of Delhi. A 22 year old male, who was later identified as Pyarelal, was found hanging from the branch of a tree. Both his knees were on the ground. This in itself was not abnormal or baffling. What had baffled the police, was the fact that his penis was exposed. It was coming out of the fly of his pants which was open. (Please reproduce fig. 3 on page 164 here: Source-"Medico-legal annual 1977) . On the ground was lying a sex magazine, showing the photographs of some nude girls. To all intents and purposes, it appeared that it was a sexual revenge murder. The police had definitely ruled out suicide. It is understandable that no suicidal patient would ever commit suicide in such an embarrassing position. In fact, it is well-known to all police officers and forensic experts alike that ladies who commit suicide by drowning take care to tie their saris near the legs. This is done, because otherwise the water frequently lifts up the sari, exposing their genitals, and no lady, even after death, wants to be exposed in that way. Inspector Matadeen had formed a hypothetical story like this. Pyarelal must be a flirt. He must be carrying on an affair with some girl of the locality. Her brother or some other relative may be against this relationship. They must have asked him to refrain from this activity. Pyarelal must not have paid any attention to this. So they murdered him and then hanged him from the branch of the tree, exposing his genitals. This could be a symbolic revenge for them, showing everyone what led him to his final undoing! To be sure, cases like this are not uncommon. I have seen some similar cases, but in those cases the culprits had amputated the penis of the deceased and inserted it in his own mouth! This act shows the utter contempt the killers bore in mind for the deceased's sexual excesses. When Matadeen made enquiries, it was found that Pyare had indeed made sexual advances towards a local girl Sarita. She was considered one of the sexiest girls of the locality. She had not heeded to his advances, and had even complained to her brother Ramdayal, who was something of a local goon. Ramdayal had once beaten Pyarelal very badly and had sworn to kill him if he saw him making advances towards his sister again. Ramdayal was called at once and enquiries made. All evidence was against him. Many people of the locality affirmed that he was a local goon, and had once beaten Pyarelal very badly. They said that once he had even sworn to kill Pyarelal in front of every one. However Ramdayal pleaded total ignorance. The police was about to take him to their infamous torture chamber, when I arrived at the scene. When I saw the scene, I was sure at once that it was not a case of murder. There had to be great disturbance around, had it been a case of murder, but the surroundings were quite normal and undisturbed. There were several other factors which made me come to that conclusion. If the police were thinking on the lines of murder, it was because they were entirely unaware of an entity known as sexual hanging. Sexual hanging is a very baffling kind of phenomenon which has not been understood in its entirety till now. To understand it let us dwell on a few vital facts first. If someone restricts the entry of air in his lungs (either by conscious stoppage or respiration, or by enclosing the face by a plastic bag), his blood will receive a lesser supply of oxygen. This state is technically known as anoxia (no oxygen) or hypoxia (less oxygen). It is a well-known fact that during a state of anoxia or hypoxia, a person can enjoy sexual pleasure much more intensely. Why this happens is not very clearly understood however. Some people, especially males, come to know of this fact quite accidentally or may be through some friends. They can then induce hypoxia by putting a noose round their neck, and then relaxing their body in such a way that part of the body weight comes to rest on the noose. The noose constricts the neck, producing a state of hypoxia. The person then masturbates, looking at pictures of nude women. Once the masturbatory act is over, these people remove the noose from their neck and go back to their work. Their intention is never to kill themselves. It is only to enjoy heightened sensations of sex during hypoxic states. These persons usually return to that place the next day and masturbate again, making the same complicated arrangements. A sexual deviant may go on repeating this practice for years! Sometimes however quite accidentally the pressure on the neck increases, and the person may die inadvertently. Thus sexual hanging is neither a case of murder nor of suicide. It is a case of accidental hanging. Sometimes, the victim ties himself up in quite a complicated fashion, and then masturbates (Please reproduce fig. 2 on page 163 here: Source-"Medico-legal annual 1977) . In this figure, the person has used a dog leash and collar straps for suspension. Towels were found folded over the penis and scrotum and a collar strap was buckled about his wrists which were behind his back. Such person are suffering from a special sexual perversion known as sexual bondage. They derive pleasure in sex only after they have been tied up. Sometimes the legs may be tied up in a complicated fashio n (please reproduce fig. 6 here: Source-"Medico-legal annual 1977). In this figure you can also see a towel beneath the underpants. Besides tying themselves up, some people cover their faces with rubberized sheets (Please reproduce fig. 4 and fig. 5 on page 165 here: Source-"Medico-legal annual 1977). This produces additional hypoxia. The main problem in these cases is to differentiate whether these cases were of suicide, murder or sexual hanging. The scene of sexual asphyxia is always some quiet place, (as in the case of Pyarelal) where the complicated preparations for an act can be made without fear of discovery or disturbance. Careful examination of the scene will reveal evidence that it has been used for similar purposes in the past. This evidence may be in the form of `grooving' of a wooden beam from which a rope has been suspended. As we have seen, some of these victims have been carrying such activity for years. Repeated acts of hanging themselves may produce this `grooving' which we have just talked about. In a similar manner, if the hanging used to be done from pipes, there may be scraping away of paintwork from pipes. The paraphernalia (Please reproduce fig. 9 here: Source-"Medico-legal annual 1977) of these perverts is quite interesting. It includes protective pads, straps, hooks and even parachute rigging. Sometimes hooks are also found at the scene. This also indicates the practice of sexual hanging (Please reproduce fig. 7 and fig. 8 here: Source-"Medico-legal annual 1977). In these photographs you can see a victim suspended from hooks! In the case of Pyarelal, the diagnosis of sexual hanging was not difficult to make. The penis was extruding through the pants, which made me suspicious at once. But what clinched the issue was the presence of a nude magazine near his feet. When I searched the scene, I could recover a bag, in which Pyarelal's sexual paraphernalia was lying. I gave the verdict of sexual hanging, and Ramdayal was released. Ramdayal came to me and told me that I had saved his life, otherwise he was sure to go to the gallows. On that day I realized how useful science can be!

SCIENCE IN CRIME DETECTION-35 DEATH BY HEROIN On 31 January 1993, a very interesting case was brought to me. A 23 year old man was found dead in his home in bathroom. The door of the bathroom was ajar, and the body was lying in a supine position (Please reproduce fig XX-6 on page 536 here). The man was identified as one Satish Malik who had moved in that house only about 2 years back. The police did not find any marks of injury on his body. But they did find one strange looking mark on his neck (please reproduce fig XX-15 on page 542 here). It was suspected that Malik had been strangled by someone. Their main reason for thinking this was the strange looking mark on the neck. When the police made enquiries they found that Malik was a married man. He had married one Sarita only last year. He worked as an executive in a cloth firm in New Delhi. From the day Malik had married, there was some fight going on in the house. Malik thought that his wife Sarita was infidel while Sarita denied this outright. But Malik wouldn't listen to her explanations. The fight increased to such an extent that Sarita's brother Ramesh had to intervene. Ramesh was a well-built man, who did not have a very good reputation in his locality. Some people believed that he did some underhand business too. He was believed to be connected with the underworld. Ramesh told Malik not to harass his sister, but Malik wouldn't listen. Ultimately Ramesh got so frustrated that once he even threatened Malik with dire consequences, if he did not mend his ways. Many people knew about this, because the next day Malik went around and told how he had been threatened by his brother-in-law, who should actually be more respectful to him. On the day of death, Sarita had gone to her friend's house in Jullunder to attend a wedding. She was to come back after five days. On the morning of 31 January, Ramesh visited Malik apparently to admonish him once again. Many neighbors saw him entering the house at about 9.00 am. Soon after they heard angry and excited voices coming from inside the house. All the neighbors knew the trouble brewing in the house, so they did not care. At about 10.00 am they saw Ramesh stamping out of the house in anger. There were no further voices from inside the house. At 12.00 noon, the washerwoman came as usual. But when she rang the bell, no one opened the door. She got suspicious and informed the neighbors. The neighbors knew what had transpired in the morning and they informed the police. The police broke open the door, and found the dead body of Malik as already described. All evidence pointed towards Ramesh as the killer. The police immediately summoned him and held him responsible for the murder. Ramesh seemed horrified to know that his brother-in-law had actually been killed. He admitted that he did have some problems with his brother-in-law, but actually he never intended to do anything to him. How could he kill his own sister's husband? But the police wouldn't listen to him, and took him to their "torture chamber" to get the truth out of him. It was at this stage that the case was brought to me. When I had a careful look at the body, I found that there was a fine froth coming out from his nose and mouth (please reproduce fig XX-22 on page 546 here). This immediately made me suspicious of something. I asked the investigating officer to show me his shoes. The police officer was initially a little bit surprised, but he knew that if I was asking for something, it really was an important thing. When the shoes were brought to me, I reflected their "tongue" (the movable squarish shaped leather portion over which shoe laces are tied), and looked at the inside. As I had suspected, I found that they were torn from the inside and some cotton had been removed from them (Please reproduce fig XX-4 on page 534 here) . My suspicions were confirmed. But just to be doubly sure, I looked at his legs. Again as expected, I saw some tattoos there (please reproduce fig XX-20 on page 544 here). On the wrist there was a long needle track (please reproduce fig XX-13 on page 541 here). I clinched the diagnosis. I called the investigating officer, and told him that Ramesh hadn't killed Malik. I told him that I knew how he had died, and asked him not to torture Ramesh any more and release him at once. The police officer looked back at me in surprise and said,"But sir, how could you say just by looking at the shoes, legs and wrists that Ramesh hasn't killed him? There is such a strong circumstantial evidence against Ramesh. You have not even conducted an autopsy. How could you say that Ramesh has nothing to do with this death?" "Well, I have seen such cases in the past", I said. Of course the subsequent autopsy conducted by me proved that I was right. The cause of death after conducting an autopsy was the same as I had thought earlier immediately after seeing the body. The readers may be surprised as to what magic I had done to find out the cause of death so quickly. Well, before going any further, let me tell you a little bit about a dangerous narcotic drug heroin . Heroin is derived from morphine, which itself comes from the poppy plant. It is self‑administered by the addict in a number of ways: he can orally ingest it, sniff it, inject it beneath the skin (known as skin‑popping because the skin is popped up and heroin injected), or inject it directly into a vein (known as mainlining because it is put in a main line, so to say). Mainlining is the most popular method of heroin intake. Consuming the drug by mouth or by sniffing does not give rise to as intense a pleasure as by injecting it directly into a vein. This is because the drug is broken down by the stomach juices. In addition, the veins carrying the drug from the stomach, first pass through the liver, where most of the remaining drug is broken down further. For this very reason, whenever doctors want to give morphine to their patients for medical reasons, they do so by injection. One of the most amazing things in the dark and murky world of addicts is the mechanics of mainlining. For this the addicts use an elaborate paraphernalia, sometimes called outfits, works or toys , which include a variety of items (Please reproduce fig XX-3 on page 533 here). A spoon or some similar device called a cooker , is used for mixing and heating the heroin after being mixed with a small quantity of water. Sometimes the handle of the spoon is bent downwards and "doubled on itself" so that the hollow of the spoon will remain in level when kept on the table. The syringe, or spike as it is sometimes called, is either a commercially manufactured syringe or a home‑made syringe consisting of an eye‑ dropper with a rubber suction device. The needle is then fitted to the eyedropper. The kit also includes a small ball of cotton, which is placed in the spoon (please note the small cotton ball in the spoon). The heroin is drawn into the syringe through this cotton. This ball of cotton is supposed to filter out any "poison", but, ironically it is this very ball which adds dirt to the already dirty solution. Moreover, sometimes small cotton fibers get sucked in the syringe and are inadvertently injected into the vein. This is very dangerous because these cotton fibers get lodged in the lungs leading to serious problems. The same dirty cotton is used again and again and what is quite amazing is that the addicts really believe that the cotton is filtering out the poison. In times of distress, when a fresh supply of the drug is not available, a typical addict will add this cotton to plain water and inject the resulting solution into his veins. Since the cotton becomes saturated with heroin through overuse, the resulting solution does give some relief to the addict. This practice is known as shooting the cottons . Malik was actually a heroin addict . He used to take heroin regularly. He had removed the cotton from the "tongue" of his shoes only because of this purpose. Because of drug addiction his family life was never well-adjusted. The figure of "works" also shows a long cord. This is used as a tourniquet. Also known as the tie‑rag it is any article such as the cord shown, a necktie, towel or a belt that can be tied around the arm or leg to make the veins very prominent (please reproduce fig XX-19 on page 544 here). This is a method which doctors use to given injections directly into the vein. The tourniquet is placed and tightened slightly above the elbow, so that veins in the front of the elbow become prominent. It is very easy to introduce a needle in the swollen vein. Those, who are unable to get hold of a hypodermic needle, tend to use things like the safety pin, sewing needle and even razor blades to make a hole in the vein and insert the eyedropper directly into the vein hole. On occasions, the addict might personalize the kit by making up a special leather or metal container. More often it is simply placed in an empty cigarette package, wrapped with a rubber band and hidden in the dirtiest corner of the addict's home. The reason for this is to take advantage of the fact that most investigators do not like to get their hands dirty during searches. I asked the police officer to search Malik's house thoroughly. On searching sure enough, the whole "kit" was found in one of his desks. Now let me tell you how the addict takes heroin. He begins the preparation for injection by emptying the contents of his sachet of heroin (known as bindle or balloon ), into the cooker . After adding enough water to liquefy the substance, a heat source is placed at the bottom of the cooker and the substance is observed closely until the first bubble appears. The addict's intention is to attain approximate body temperature. Then the solution from the cooker is drawn through the cotton ball into the syringe. Just at this moment, the tourniquet is applied above the elbow. Now the needle is inserted slowly into the vein until the blood can be seen coming into the eye‑dropper. The rush of the blood in the dropper indicates that the vein has been successfully punctured. The drug is now pushed into the vein. Some addicts prefer to suck the blood back into the dropper three to four times in order to ensure that no trace of the drug remains in the dropper. This practice is known as booting . The effect of the injection is immediate and intense. Addicts describe it in various ways, ranging from a pleasant tingling sensation running up and down the limbs and settling in the abdominal region, to a sensation not unlike a sexual orgasm which tapers off into a feeling of lethargic well‑being, resulting in a disregard for problems, and a total lack of a sense of responsibility. The condition is deeply desired by the addict and lasts for several hours following an injection. An addict generally begins his career by injecting in the veins of the elbow. Due to repeated injections, however, the veins collapse and deteriorate and the addict is forced to move further down the forearm and then towards the back of the hand. As further deterioration takes place, the addict moves down to the feet and then upwards, travelling from the legs to the thighs and the groin area. Finally all these veins are scarred. A heroin addict can be spotted at once by just looking at the condition of his veins. When all the limb veins become scarred, some addicts start injecting the drug into the veins of the neck; this may cause needle track marks there. These were the marks that the police saw on Malik's neck, and thought he had been throttled. Actually they were the needle track marks which were produced because sometimes Malik used to take heroin through the veins of his neck . Sometimes an addict can get a sample of heroin, which is adulterated with a dangerous poison, strychnine. Its injection known as hot shot can cause quick death. Hot shot can also occur when an addict, used to injecting heroin of 3 to 5 per cent purity, gets a purer blend of the drug. Death can occur in this case, since the addict is not used to higher concentrations. One of the strangest findings in these addicts is the finding of strange tattoos. I found these tattoos in Malik's legs as you already know. The addicts make these tattoos to hide the needle track marks that are produced by repeated injections of heroin. They are afraid that if someone looks at their needle marks, he will at once recognize that they were drug addicts. Instead if they hide their needle marks under the tattoos, no one would know about them. I found the tattoos on Malik's arms too (please reproduce fig XX-14 here). After Ramesh left on that fateful day, Malik became very depressed and wanted to have his daily ration of heroin. Unfortunately the heroin sample he had bought the previous day from his drug dealer contained strychnine, and this killed him instantaneously. His body organs revealed presence of both heroin as well as strychnine. When the police released Ramesh, he came and fell on my legs. He said that his life had been saved because of me only. The poor fellow did not know that it was not me, but forensic science which had saved him. I only used the science! ( To protect the identity of the individuals, their names, as well as the various dates of occurrence have been changed )

Book Review Journal Aims & Objectives This journal has been started by Dr Anil Aggrawal, Professor of Forensic Medicine at the Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi - 110002. Dr. Aggrawal is quite keen to interact with people who are interested in books. Dr. Aggrawal adores books and literally thrives on them. Though being a medical doctor specializing in forensic medicine, he loves books on all subjects encompassing such diverse ranges from astronomy and zoology to paleontology, history, occult science, philosophy, mathematics, and classical literature, et al. His penchant for books was conceived quite early in life. Even as a three year old he always pined for books instead of toys-as his siblings did. There is a legend about the Greek mathematician and engineer Archimedes (ca. 287 B.C. - ca. 212 B.C.). When Roman armies sacked Syracuse in 212 B.C. he was busy studying a geometrical figure made in sand. When a Roman soldier commanded him to come along, he motioned to him imperiously, "Don't disturb my circles". The soldier felt so insulted that he killed Archimedes on the spot! In a similar situation Dr. Aggrawal would probably say, "Don't disturb my books!" Writers and thinkers have always been his idols. Some of the people who have inspired him are (i)Lord Buddha (he remains first on his list) (ii)Albert Einstein (iii)Robert James Fischer (The only American who has been an official World Chess Champion) and (iv)Isaac Asimov (he wrote close to 500 books, and is reputed to be the only author to have published books in all ten categories of the Dewey Decimal System! Oh, well, we all know it's not true, but he has really written so widely, it seems cruel to challenge this statement.) Aggrawal is no Asimov, but like him, he loves writing books. He has written nine books so far (till 2006 end). Four of them are quiz books, which reflect his morbid passion for quizzes. The books, in order they were published are (i) 1000 Crime Quiz (published 30 March 1992) (ii)1000 Love & Sex Quiz (published 13 August 1992) (iii) Some Common Ailments (Published 27 January 1993)(iv)The Book of Medicine (Published 5 February 1994) (v)Narcotic Drugs (Published on 2 May 1995) (vi) 1000 Biology Quiz (Published on 29 August 1995) (vii)Modern Diagnostics (Published on 8 March 2001) (viii) Health Quiz Book (Published on 5 August 2002) (ix) Self Assessment and review of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology (the first book related to his profession). And since we all love statistics, here is a detailed statistics of these books. Here they are: S. no. Book Started on Completed on Published Publisher Publisher Cost 1. 1000 Crime Quiz 1.2.91 31.5.91 31.5.91 March 1992 Rupa 30 2. 1000 Love & Sex Quiz 1.6.91 7.1.92 7.1.92 August 1992 Rupa 30 3. Some Common Ailments 1.6.91 28.11.91 28.11.91 January 1993 NBT 25 4. The Book of Medicine Nov 92 15.1.93 15.1.93 February 1994 Rupa 30 5. Narcotic Drugs 1.1.93 9.5.94 9.5.94 May 1995 NBT 46 6. 1000 Biology Quiz 6.1.92 17.3.93 19.3.93 August 1995 Rupa 80 7. Modern Diagnostics 1995 1996 1996 March 2001 NBT 80 8. Health Quiz book Feb 2002 July 2002 July 2002 August 2002 Ocean Books 200 9. Self Assessment and review of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology 2005 April 2006 April 2006 May 2006 PeePee 295 (Books published till 2007 end) N.B. 1. NBT stands for National Book Trust, India. 2. Dates mentioned are in this format: day/month/year. 3. The cost is in Indian Rupees. 4. Some Common Ailments has been translated in Assamiya, Bangla, Hindi, Kannada, Konkani, Marathi, Nepalese, Oriya, Punjabi, Telugu and Urdu (Total 12 languages). 5. Narcotic Drugs has been translated in Assamiya, Bangla, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu (Total 6 languages). 6. Health Quiz Book has been translated in Hindi (Total 2 languages). Why is Dr. Aggrawal interested in writing book reviews? Whenever he reads a book he tries to discover its strong points. There is a subconscious effort on his part perhaps, to incorporate those points in his own writings. He then wants to share his findings with everyone. In the year 2000, he started an Internet Journal of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology , and out of his sheer interest in books, he included a book review section to it. The unprecedented popularity of the review section took him by complete surprise. He received books from authors and publishers in thousands. And they belonged to all subjects-not only forensic medicine and toxicology, which he had intended at the inception of the above journal. With time he and his group realized that they must conjure another journal devoted solely to Book Reviews for books of all genre. In this all-new journal they would accommodate all kinds of books, and hence the present Anil Aggrawal's Internet Journal of Book Reviews . Dr. Aggrawal fondly cites the examples of many regular journals (not devoted to book reviews), which have come out with issues especially devoted to book reviews. One pertinent example is Archives of Sexual Behavior , which came out with an issue (Volume 28, Number 5 / October, 1999, pages 377-467) especially devoted to book reviews in 1999. Readers can access this issue by clicking here .

SCIENCE IN CRIME DETECTION-11 WHAT DO THE BONES TELL US ? Two years back, I was called to a village near Alwar to solve a very bizarre case. While some digging was going on for a construction purpose, a laborer unearthed several bones. He immediately ran to his contractor and showed him the bones. The contractor contacted the police and the police in turn contacted me. That is how I came into the picture. While I was going through the police records of the area, I realized that about 2 years back a 22‑year‑old boy was reported missing from that village. His name was Suresh. There was a widely held rumor that Suresh had run away from his house in search of a proper job. It was common view that he was quite dissatisfied with his parents and wanted to live away in an independent manner. So, when, one day Suresh was not found in his home, everyone in the village assumed that he had run away from home. Suresh's parents however were not ready to admit that he had run away. They constantly maintained that he had fallen in the hands of some criminal who had killed him and had buried him somewhere. The real story was deeper than this. Actually, before Suresh's disappearance, nobody could even think about it. Suresh was in love with a local belle Geeta. She was the daughter of a rich money‑lender of the village, Karan Singh. Karan Singh had repeatedly warned Suresh not to meet Geeta but, since his own daughter was secretly in love with Suresh, he couldn't stop their meetings. Once he had openly sworn to kill them both, if they met again. About a month after Suresh's disappearance, Geeta was found missing from her house too. The story took a new turn now. Was Geeta secretly kidnapped by Suresh? Were Suresh and Geeta separately kidnapped and murdered by Karan Singh's goons? Or, was their disappearance totally unrelated to each other? Nobody knew what indeed had happened. To be sure, Geeta was extremely beautiful and she could very well have fallen in the hands of a rapist and murderer. But, how to know what had really happened. Nobody even was sure that Suresh and Geeta had been killed. When I examined the bones preliminary, I found two skulls among the bones, so it was sure that I was dealing with a least two dead people. But, I had to prove that out of them one skull was a male and the other, a female. Only then, could we prove that Karan Singh had indeed got Suresh and Geeta murdered. Not only that I had to prove that out of other bones too, half belonged to a male and half to a female. This was challenging task, but I decided to undertake it. How do we find out sex of the victim from the bones? Many times I have been asked this question by the police officers and public. In this case, I am going to provide you with my well kept secrets. Many sexual differences are found in the skull. Look at fig.1, carefully, which shows two skulls‑ one of a male and the other a female one. The upper one is male skull, while the lower one is a female. There are several ways in which we can say that a given skull is male or a female. One is to look at the bone just beneath the eyebrows. This is technically known as SUPRA ORBITAL RIDGE . It is much more prominent in a male skull than in a female skull (shown in the figure by arrows). Further when you see the angulation between the forehead and the nose, you find that in a male skull, this angulation is very prominent. The bone behind the ear is known as MASTOID PROCESS . This is larger, round and blunt in a male skull and smaller, smoother and pointed in a female skull. This point is also shown in the figure by arrows. There are several other differences in the skulls, but these three are very prominent in the given diagram and I generally infer the sex from these 3 points. Let us now come to the jaw technically known as MANDIBLE. The jaw bone above is of male, while the jaw bone below is of female. The jaw bone is squarer in the males while it is much more rounded in the females Fig 2. Hip bone shows the maximum differences between the two sexes. There are two hip bones in each individual. If you stand with your arms akimbo, your palms are over the hip bones. These hip bones unite with the back bone(SACRUM) and from a circular jug like structure known technically as PELVIS. Nature has made pelvis much wider in women because , women have to bear children. The babies, while they are within the bomb, remain enclosed by pelvis. If nature had made pelvis narrower in females, babies would find it very difficult to come out of womb at the time of delivery. It is the wide pelvis, which gives the females their characteristic waddling gait. We make use of this fact in determining, whether a given hip bone is of a male or of a female. Look at Fig.3 , it shows 2 hip bones. The upper one is a male hip bone, while the lower one is a female. The angulation of the bone is more in male as shown in the diagram. There is a notch in the hip bone which is known as GREATER SCIATIC NOTCH . This notch is shown in Fig 4 . This notch is more acute in the male and much wider in the female(as shown). The backbone or sacrum is shown in Fig 5 . Sacrum is narrower in the male. You can guess that the sacrum on the left is a male one. Feeling like a detective already? Well, let's go on. There are differences in arm bones and thigh bones. The rounded projection, which you are seeing fits into the shoulder. This rounded projection is noticeably larger in the male. Yes, you are right; the bon e on the left is a male one. Finally look at fig 7 , it shows the thigh bones. The lower position fits into the knee joint. If we stand, the thigh bone erect on the table, then the male thigh bone known technically as FEMUR , makes a greater angulation than the female thigh bone. In the given figure, the bone on the left shows an angle of 80 0 and the bone on the right shows an angle of 76 0 , so obviously the left bone belongs to a male. Using these criteria, I could prove that there were in fact two sets of bones‑ one belonging to a male and the other to female. Armed with this knowledge, police raided the house of Karan Singh and took him into custody for interrogation, In the beginning he denied of knowing anything, but later broke under pressure. He admitted to having killed both of them when he realized that Geeta had becomes pregnant. The court gave him rigorous imprisonment for life. By reading this account you must yourself be feeling like a detective already. If you like, you may preserve these issues of 'Crime & Detective'. Who knows, one day you might turn out to be a great detective and help the police.

SCIENCE IN CRIME DETECTION-32 MAKING WILL UNDER A HYPNOTIC TRANCE I encountered one of the most astounding cases of my life in March 1995. The facts of the case are quite interesting. Rama Devi was a 63 year old woman, who had inherited a good fortune after the death of her husband Mange Ram. Mange Ram worked as a share broker and had earned well during his life. Rama Devi did not understand the share business at all. She had studied only upto higher secondary class and could thus be called a semi-literate person. She could read simple texts like Ramayana and Mahabharata. This was all she ever needed to read anyway. She could also read and write letters in simple English. She was a good natured, religious minded, modest woman who lived a simple life. For a 63 year old individual she was maintaining reasonably good health. Her only trouble was a constant nagging backache. She had seen many doctors for her trouble, and even some sadhus and fakirs, but none had been able to cure her. She was known to have said on several occasions that the backache was giving her a great problem, and she was prepared to go to any length to have it permanently cured. Rama Devi had a son Ramesh and a daughter Rani. Ramesh was a 24 year old bright boy, who was struggling to set up his own business. Rama Devi was helping him financially, and there was every indication that with the passage of time, he would settle down decently. He was a hard working boy, who was putting his mother's money to good use. Rani, a 34 year old lady was married to one Surendra Mohan who was a 43 year old man. He did odd jobs for a living. His income was erratic and often he didn't earn well enough to even feed his family properly. His mother-in-law Rama Devi often offered to help him financially to set up some good business, but he never showed any interest. In fact he had no interest in any work whatsoever. He just wanted to relax and have money without working for it. He had some interest in tantra and had learnt this art from some sadhus with whom he spent much of his time. Nobody knew how much tantra he actually knew, but it was well-known that he could hypnotise a person to some extent. Rama Devi had inherited a large estate. Nobody knew how much she actually owned exactly, but some rough estimates suggested that she might have owned cash and property worth 50 crores. Because of Surendra Mohan's erratic behavior she was not very happy with him, and there were ample indications that she was not going to leave him much after her death. She was going to finalize her will shortly, and the whole household was anxious about it. On 20th March 1995, Rama Devi was found dead in her bed under mysterious circumstances. There were some nail marks on her throat, and from them, the police concluded that she must have been murdered. An autopsy (conducted by me) proved that she had been killed by throttling. The police had no idea who had killed her. For all they knew, some burglar might have broken in the house and killed her. When the will was opened after her death, it caused tremendous upheaval in the household. She had left everything to Surendra Mohan leaving hardly anything for her own son Ramesh. This was a totally unexpected thing, and naturally the two facts- her sudden killing, and her strange will- led many to conclude that there was something black at the bottom. But what... Before going further, I would like to digress a bit, and tell something about hypnotism and its influence on writing. The word hypnosis is derived from the Greek hypnos, god of sleep. In fact the hypnotic state superficially resembles sleep. The art of hypnotism has been practiced since the earliest times, but it was introduced as a therapeutic technique (to cure diseases) by the Austrian doctor Franz Anton Mesmer (1733-1815). About 300 years earlier, the Swiss physician Paracelsus (1490-1541) had insisted that there was a kind of "animal magnetism" in all living beings and that this magnetism was influenced by planets. In the 18th century, the British physician Richard Mead (1673-1754) wrote a book on the influence of the planets on the body. Mesmer read that book and was quite influenced by this idea. He further developed this notion. He thought that there was a Universal Magnetic Fluid which pervaded all human beings, and it was presumably the distribution of this fluid in the body that determined health or disease. Initially he used magnets to draw out this "mesmeric fluid", but later on he modified his ideas. He came to the conclusion that every person possessed magnetic forces, and even these forces could be used to influence the distribution of the magnetic fluid in other persons, thus effecting cures. In effect, he replaced magnets with his own hands. This idea was later brought to perfection by his disciples. Mesmer attempted to put his views into practice in Vienna and in various other towns, but it was not until he came to Paris in 1778 that he achieved success. Here he opened a clinic in which he treated all kinds of diseases by "animal magnetism". The patients were seated around a tub (a baquet) which contained various chemicals and from which protruded iron rods that were applied to the affected potions of the body. The room was darkened, appropriate music was provided, and Mesmer appeared in a lilac robe, passing from one patient to another and touching each one with his hands or his wand. By this means Mesmer was apparently able to treat some cases of hysteria. He was also able to "mesmerize" or hypnotise people by this technique. According to him, a hypnotised person was a "magnetized" person. He became so popular in France that even the French queen Marie Antoinette (1755-93) became his follower! Finally branded as a charlatan by his medical colleagues, Mesmer was forced to leave Paris, and he shortly faded into obscurity. Although Mesmer had done pioneering work in the field of hypnotism, his pupil Marquis de Puysegar finally proved that hypnotism was equally effective without the use of magnets, wires, and tubs of water; it could equally easily be done by the use of hands. It was in 1842, that James Braid of Manchester discovered that a hypnotic trance could be induced by gazing at a bright object, and it was he who first suggested the term "hypnotism". Before this time, the word "mesmerism" was used. Despite their initial success, Mesmer and his disciples gradually faded from the scene. However, their methods and results were the center of controversy in scientific circles for many years; in fact, mesmerism in the early part of the nineteenth century was a great source of heated discussion. This discussion eventually led to a revival of interest in the hypnotic phenomenon. Hypnosis is induced by having the subject fixate on a small shiny object while suggesting that his or her eyes are growing heavy and that he or she is relaxing into drowsiness and is finally asleep, although the operator is careful to inform the subject that he or she will remain alert to the suggestions and commands which will be given. As the subject enters the hypnotic trance, he or she may appear to be in a sleeplike state in which responsiveness to surroundings is reduced. The eyes may close, breathing slows down, and he will ordinarily not engage in activities until commanded to do so by the hypnotist. However, recent research has shown that the subject can remain alert while under hypnosis and that commanding or authoritative statements to the effect that he is going to sleep are not necessary to the induction of the trance. Studies of the electroencephalograms (EEG) or the "brain waves" of hypnotized subjects reveal that they resemble those of waking individuals rather than those who are asleep. The subject is awake but is in a state of heightened suggestibility. This means that the hypnotized person is in an uncritical attitude and can be made to experience delusions, hallucinations, anesthesia (operations under hypnosis are well-known), pain and other similar sensations. He may also be made to obey your commands. Normally a person may not obey you, but under a state of hypnosis he is almost sure to obey you. He may be made to enact unusual roles-crawling about on all fours, barking like a dog, crowing like a rooster-that he would ordinarily find uncongenial to his normal waking state. The subject's heightened state of suggestibility and uncritical attitude do not, however, mean that criminal or immoral behavior will be carried out at the command of the hypnotist. Subjects given such commands usually awaken or fail to carry them out. Thus if someone hypnotises a person, and asks him to commit some murder, chances are that the hypnotised person would not obey him. However there is no guarantee that a subject might not perform an immoral or illegal act under hypnotism. One of the most striking phenomena of hypnosis is the posthypnotic suggestion. This can be demonstrated by suggestions to the subject that he will carry out an activity at a prearranged signal after he has been awakened from the trance. The subject will have no memory of having been given such a suggestion. For example, a student subject might be instructed to arise in the middle of a lecture and go and open a window upon seeing the hypnotist (also the course instructor) take a handkerchief from his pocket. Many subjects will carry out such acts, being unable to explain why they did so other than to say they felt a strong urge to do so in spite of being embarrassed. It has been known for quite some time that hypnotised persons may be asked to write things which they really do not want to. However the writing under hypnotic trance differs substantially from the normal writing. It is this part of hypnotism that concerns us here. Have a look at some of the writings written under the hypnotic trance (Please reproduce fig 1,2,3 on pages 132 and 133 here). Fig 1 i s divided in three parts. The top potion shows writing during a hypnotic trance. The middle portion shows the writing just after the trance was over, and the lower portion shows the writing 20 minutes after the trance. Fig 2 is divided in four portions. The top portion shows writing before the trance; the second portion, during the trance; the third portion, just after the trance and the final portion 20 minutes after the trance. Fig 3 i s also divided on the patten of fig 2. From these figures perhaps you can make out the characteristics of writing during a hypnotic trance. During the hypnotic trance, the angle between the paper and the pen is about 300, while during the normal writing, the angle is about 450. The reduced angle during the hypnotic trance indicates the clumsiness with which the pen is held during the trance. This causes writing to become clumsy. Muscular co-ordination also becomes improper during hypnotism. During trance, the number of errors increase. Many people forget to put the dot over the i, and many forget to make all three limbs of the letters `M' and `W'. Retouching of strokes is a characteristic of normal writing. By retouching the strokes, we normally correct our mistakes. During the hypnotic trance, the subject does not retouch his strokes. This is a characteristic of writing during the trance state. The line quality is poor during the trance state. During the trance, the person is not concerned about the line quality. One reason for this could be that during the trance state, the eyes of the subject are usually closed. In all the three samples shown here, you can see that the line quality is poor during the trance state, but it is good before and after the trance state. Another characteristic of writing during the trance state is the poor state of alignment and of the relative position of letters. This can well be seen in the samples shown here. During trance writing, the curves become flattened and the angles become blunt. Thus a `C' would appear more like a `['. Similarly the angles become blunt. A `V' would appear more like `U' because the lower angle becomes blunt. This feature is seen in all letters which have either a curve or an angle. Terminals of letters become bigger during trance state. The writing seems to end with a "flourish". The size of letters is also quite big during the trance state. Coming back to our case. When the police approached me for the post-mortem of Rama Devi, I asked them what the case was, and they told me the whole story. I immediately suspected that Surendra Mohan must have somehow hypnotised Rama Devi and during the trance stage, must have dictated her to write what he desired. I demanded to see the will. The police officer was initially surprised, but when I told him that the will was the key to the whole mystery, he produced the will before me. I studied the will for two hours, and came to the conclusion that it was indeed written during a trance state. Rama Devi had been killed because later on she would have repudiated her will, knowing that she had been hoodwinked into writing a wrong will. There were several features that gave the will away. First of all the lines were drooping. Secondly, the sizes of the letters were quite big. Thirdly there were terminal flourishes in almost all letters. Furthermore the curves of letters were flattened and the angles were blunted. Additional evidence was that none of i's were dotted and limbs of several m's and w's were missing constantly. I told the police officer that the will had been written under a hypnotic trance. Since it was known that Surendra Mohan was a practitioner of hypnotism, the suspicion naturally fell on him. He had motive to do so also, as otherwise Rama Devi was not going to give him anything. When confronted with these facts, Surendra Mohan admitted his guilt. He revealed the whole story to the police which was like this. On the night of 19th March, Surendra Mohan approached Rama Devi and told her that he could cure her of her constant backache by hypnotism. Although Rama Devi was quite reluctant to interact with Surendra Mohan, but she ultimately gave in, thinking that it could be worth a try, and she gave consent for hypnotising her. It is worth mentioning here that no one can be hypnotised against his will, so it was necessary for Surendra Mohan to obtain her consent somehow. You must have read in Mandrake comics that the hero Mandrake hypnotizes subjects as and when he wants, but in real life, hypnotism under these conditions is absolutely impossible. The consent of the subject is a must. Once Rama Devi gave her consent to be hypnotised, Surendra Mohan hypnotised her, and then instead of doing anything about her pain, brought out a paper and pen, and asked her to write all property in his name. He also arranged for two of his goons to put their signatures on the will as witnesses. After the will was signed by Rama Devi, Surendra Mohan and his two goons throttled Rama Devi. The court found my scientific evidence admissible, and punished Surendra Mohan with life imprisonment. The court also transferred all the property of Rama Devi to her genuine successor Ramesh. When Ramesh got the property, he came to my office and touched my feet. It was at that time, that I realized how important forensic science can be.

Forensic Jokes, Puns & Tidbits Forensic Jokes 1. On September 2, 1999, Dr. Soni, who had come from Gwalior to take MBBS exams told me this story which he claims to be true. Later it was confirmed by several colleagues of mine, including Dr. Dikshit and Dr. Khanna. (i) Dr. K.K.Mishra was the Principal at the Medical College, Cuttack, when the college was sanctioned a decent sum of money for Post-partum program. Normally forensic medicine departments are so neglected, they never get such fantastic sums. Due to a clerical mistake somewhere along the line, the phrase Post-Partum program got changed to "Post-Mortem Program", and all the money came to the department of Forensic Medicine. The Head of Forensic Medicine department (who was Professor K.K. Mishra himself) was surprised, how the government was so generous in sanctioning such a fantastic amount for such a neglected speciality. Anyway he thanked his stars and started making an entirely new building and purchasing brand new equipment for the department. After the project was almost complete, the mistake came to the notice of someone sitting in the administration, but by that time, almost all the money had been utilized, and the department of forensic medicine had got an entirely new look. Well, who says mistakes are always disastrous. I am waiting for the day when some bright clerk in my college makes the same mistake! (ii) On 25 February, 2000, I received this contribution from Dr SK Sharma, Senior Medical Officer at the General Hospital, Gurgaon (Haryana), who claims it to be a real incident. It has got such an eerie similarity to the above story, that I was forced to put this one alongside it. Here is his contribution verbatim! May I submit my first hand departmental experience I underwent after my postgraduation in forensic medicine from Mualana Azad Medical College, New Delhi. I reported to my directorate for my placement anywhere in the district. I was referred to the concerned clerk. He asked me what did my postgraduation in forensic medicine mean. He wanted this information, so that a proposal for transfer was made commensurate with my newly acquired qualifications. I replied that it was in relation to medicolegal examinations and postmortems. Quite interestingly, the orders I received were to report in the postpartum center in a district. It took many months to be back on the post where my specialization could be used. 2. The following joke was sent on September 9, 1999 by Cyril Thomas, who claims it to be a true incident. ********** MAKING THE JOB EASIER ******** In Westminister,CA, Kevin V.Condon,36, shot himself to death after calling 911 emergency line and pinning a sign to the front door of his home said, "DEAD BODY INSIDE, CALL CORONOR, ATTEMPT SUICIDE." Inside police found a fresh pot of coffe waiting for them and the victim's body lying on several plastic bags carefully spread across his bed. A completed death certificate was on top of his night stand. Police said that Condon, a former mortuary attendent used to pick up corpses from the coroner's office, apparantely wanted to make things easy on the officers and coroner's deputies who would be handling his case. 3. The following joke was sent on September 15, 1999 by Dr. Yasar Bilge of the Forensic Medicine Department of Ankara University Medicine Faculty, Turkey. Two doctors diagnose a different disease for a patient. The patient obviously gets very annoyed. He goes to them and asks,"Both of you have given me a different diagnosis. I demand to know who is right." One of the doctors who had just spent a housemanship in forensic medicine, ponders for a moment and then replies after careful consideration,"Well, we all know that autopsy is the final diagnosis. So we can only be sure, when you die, and we conduct an autopsy on you! So if you want to know the right diagnosis, well! you know what you have got to do!" 4. The following joke was sent on September 22, 1999 by Sudhir Gupta of Fantasy International, Greater Kailash-1, New Delhi, India. The thing that relates it to Forensic Medicine is really quite dubious and dawns upon the reader in the last line. Readers who shun blue jokes may please excuse me. Two men camping in the mountains had spent four days together, and they were getting a little testy. One morning, the first friend says, "You know, we're starting to get on each other's nerves. Why don't we split up today. I'll hike north and spend the day looking around, you hike south and spend the day. Then tonight, we'll have dinner and share our experiences over the campfire." The second friend agrees and hikes south. The first man hikes north. That night over dinner, the first man tells his story. "Today I hiked into a beautiful valley. I followed a stream up into a canyon and ate lunch. Then I swam in a crystal clear mountain lake. As I sat out and dried, I watched deer come and drink from the stream. The wildflowers were filled with butterflies and hawks floated all day overhead. How was your day?" The second friend says, "I went south and ran across a set of railroad tracks. I followed them until I came across a beautiful young woman tied to the tracks. I cut the ropes off, gently lifted her off the tracks, and we had sex in every imaginable way all afternoon. Finally, when I was so tired I could barely move, I came back to camp." "Wow!!" the first guy exclaimed, "Your day was MUCH better than mine. Did you get a blow job, too?" "Nah," says the second friend over his meal, "I couldn't find her head." 5. The following joke was sent on September 24, 1999 by Dr. R.K.Sharma of the Forensic Medicine Department of All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. This is a good one..... bizarre too! At the 1994 annual awards dinner given for Forensic Science, the president, Dr. Don Harper Mills, astounded his audience with the legal complications of a bizarre death. Here is the story: On March 23, 1994, the medical examiner viewed the body of Ronald Opus and concluded that he died from a shotgun wound to the head. The decedent had jumped from the top of a ten story building intending to commit suicide.He left a note to that effect indicating his despondency. As he fell past the ninth floor, his life was interrupted by a shotgun blast passing through a window, which killed him instantly. Neither the shooter nor the decedent was aware that a safety net had been installed just below at the eighth floor level to protect some building workers and that Ronald Opus would not have been able to complete his suicide the way he had planned. Ordinarily, Dr. Mills continued, "a person who sets out to commit suicide and ultimately succeeds, even though the mechanism might not be what he intended" is still defined as committing suicide. That Mr. Opus was shot on the way to certain death nine stories below at street level, but that his suicide attempt probably would not have been successful because of the safety net, caused the medical examiner to feel that he had a homicide on his hands. The room on the ninth floor from whence the shotgun blast emanated was occupied by an elderly man and his wife. They were arguing vigorously, and he was threatening her with a shotgun. The man was so upset that when he pulled the trigger he completely missed his wife and the pellets went through the window, striking Mr. Opus. When one intends to kill subject A, but kills subject B in the attempt, one is guilty of the murder of subject B. When confronted with the murder charge, the old man and his wife were both adamant. They both said they thought the shotgun was unloaded. The old man said it was his long-standing habit to threaten his wife with the unloaded shotgun. He had no intention to murder her. Therefore, the killing of Mr. Opus appeared to be an accident, that is, the gun had been accidentally loaded. The continuing investigation turned up a witness who saw the old couple's son loading the shotgun about six weeks prior to the fatal accident. It transpired that the old lady had cut off her son's financial support and the son, knowing the propensity of his father to use the shotgun threateningly, loaded the gun with the expectation that his father would shoot his mother. The case now becomes one of murder on the part of the son for the death of Ronald Opus. Now comes the exquisite twist. Further investigation revealed that the son was in fact Ronald Opus. He had become increasingly despondent over the failure of his attempt to engineer his mother's murder. This led him to jump off the ten story building on March 23rd, only to be killed by a shotgun blast passing through the ninth story window. The son had actually murdered himself, so the medical examiner closed the case as a suicide. Very tidy of him. Dr. Sharma informs me that this is a true story from Associated Press, by Kurt Westervelt. 6. The following three short jokes were sent on Wednesday, 22 Dec 1999 by Subhash Niyogi and Dr.Prasenjit Once a reporter asked a famouse forensic scientist,"Sir,How do you feel when somebody dies?" "It's time to work!" replied the scientist with a smile. "What happens if somebody swallows potassium cyanide", asked a student. "Nothing worth happening remains", said the teacher. Here is a hint on how to identify THALLIUM poisoning: When the body of a person becomes stiff like a THALLUS then it's thallium poisoning. 7. The following joke was sent by Moneek Mehra on 23 January 2000 Three dead bodies turn up at the mortuary, all with very big smiles on their faces. A Detective Inspector (DI) is sent and is taken straight to the first body. "This guy was an Englishman, 60, died of heart failure while playing with his grandchildren. Hence the enormous smile Inspector ", says the mortuary chief. The DI nods understandingly and is taken to the second dead man. "This was an American, 25, won 124 million dollars in the Power Ball lottery, spent it all on booze. Died of alcohol poisoning, hence the contended smile." "Nothing unusual here", thinks the DI, and asks to be shown the last body. "Ah," says the chief, "this is the most unusual one, a Sardarji, 30, struck by lightning." "Why is he smiling then?" inquires the Inspector. "Thought he was having his picture taken," replies the chief. 8. The following series of jokes was sent by Mike Duxbury on Friday, the 28 January 2000 Subject: Massachusetts Bar Association Lawyers Journal Date: 14 November 1997 15:05 Recently reported in the Massachusetts Bar Association Lawyers Journal, the following are questions actually asked of witnesses by attorneys during trials and, in certain cases, the responses given by insightful witnesses: 1. "Now doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn't know about it until the next morning?" 2. "The youngest son, the twenty-year old, how old is he?" 3. "Were you present when your picture was taken?" 4. "Were you alone or by yourself?" 5. "Was it you or your younger brother who was killed in the war?" 6. "Did he kill you?" 7. "How far apart were the vehicles at the time of the collision?" 8. "You were there until the time you left, is that true?" 9. "How many times have you committed suicide?" After these nine one-liners, Dr. Duxbury gives us this series of questions and answers 10. Q: "So the date of conception (of the baby) was August 8th?" A: "Yes." Q: "And what were you doing at that time?" 11. Q: "She had three children, right?" A: "Yes." Q: "How many were boys?" A: "None." Q: "Were there any girls?" 12. Q: "You say the stairs went down to the basement?" A: "Yes." Q: "And these stairs, did they go up also?" 13. Q: "Mr. Slatery, you went on a rather elaborate honeymoon, didn't you?" A: "I went to Europe, Sir." Q: "And you took your new wife?" 14. Q: "How was your first marriage terminated?" A: "By death." Q: "And by who's death was it terminated?" 15. Q: "Can you describe the individual?" A: "He was about medium height and had a beard." Q: "Was this a male, or a female?" 16. Q: "Is your appearance here this morning pursuant to a deposition notice which I sent to your attorney?" A: "No, this is how I dress when I go to work." 17. Q: "Doctor, how many autopsies have you performed on dead people?" A: "All my autopsies are performed on dead people." I8. Q: "All your responses must be oral, OK? What school did you go to?" A: "Oral." 19. Q: "Do you recall the time that you examined the body?" A: "The autopsy started around 8:30 p.m.." Q: "And Mr. Dennington was dead at the time?" A: "No, he was sitting on the table wondering why I was doing an autopsy." 20. Q: "You were not shot in the fracas?" A: "No, I was shot midway between the fracas and the navel." 21. Q: "Are you qualified to give a urine sample?" A: "I have been since early childhood." 22. Q: "Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?" A: "No." Q: "Did you check for blood pressure?" A: "No." Q: "Did you check for breathing?" A: "No." Q: "So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?" A: "No." 0: "How can you be so sure, Doctor?" A: "Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar." Q: "But could the patient have still been alive nevertheless?" A: "It is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law somewhere." After tickling us so lustily Dr. Duxbury adds: Hi, My name is Mike Duxbury and I am a Police Surgeon ( Forensic Medical Examiner) in Leicester, England. I couldn't agree more with your observations on having more humour in Forensic Medicine. You might like the above jokes. (They still make me laugh every time I read them!) The last sentence is probably an understatement Dr. Duxbury. Many thanks for such nice jokes. -Dr. Anil Aggrawal 9. The following joke (claimed to be a true story) was sent on May 12, 2000 by Geo & Joyce LeonardThis is a good one..... bizarre too! [Bloomberg News Service] A terrible diet and room with no ventilation are being blamed for the death of a man who was killed by his own gas. There was no mark on his body but an autopsy showed large amounts of methane gas in his system. His diet had consisted primarily of beans and cabbage (and a couple of other things). It was just the right combination of foods. It appears that the man died in his sleep from breathing the poisonous cloud that was hanging over his bed. Had he been outside or had his windows been opened, it wouldn't have been fatal. But the man was shut up in his near airtight bedroom. According to the article, "He was a big man with a huge capacity for creating "this deadly gas." Three of the rescuers got sick and one was hospitalized. 10. Many people ask me why I chose Forensic Medicine as a career, and I tell them that it is because a forensic man gets the honor of being called when the top doctors have failed!

ANIL AGGRAWAL'S PAGE OF FORENSIC QUOTES AND APHORISMS About Myself Hi, I am Professor Anil Aggrawal from India. I am working as a Professor of Forensic Medicine at the Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi-110002, India. I love to exchange ideas on Forensic Medicine, Forensic Pathology and Forensic Toxicology. I love quotes. There are all kinds of quotation books available in the market, but unfortunately none caters exclusively to Forensic Quotes. This page is a modest effort to fill this gap. It includes quotes which I have collected during the last 25 years of my experience in Forensic Medicine. It also includes quotes submitted by several of the discerning readers. All contributions by the web surfers have been added with due acknowledgements. I hope to put the collective wisdom of all of us on the net for the benefit of all. After all that is why the God invented the internet, isn't it! So if you remember any of the witty forensic quotes that you heard somewhere, E-mail it to me, and I will put it on the internet with due credits. My E-mail is dr_anil@hotmail.com. All quotes submitted by readers will be put on the web with due credit. Please don't forget to mention the source of the quotes. That will make my work that much easier. If you have enjoyed these pages (or even if you haven't), please be good enough to leave your comments in the guestbook. These are my only rewards. It keeps me on track (your criticisms), and keeps my morale high (your appreciations). Thanks! Guestbook Statistics Our Valued Contributors A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z ABORTION I will not aid a woman to produce abortion. - Hippocratic Oath All your better deeds shall be in water writ. - Philaster II, IV (Cited in "Recent Advances in Forensic Pathology" edited by Francis E. Camps, J.& A. Churchill Ltd., 1969, on page 88, in Chapter 5 entitled "Abortion and its complications") ACCIDENTS Now and then there is a person born who is so unlucky that he runs into accidents which started out to happen to somebody else. - Don Marquis, archys life of mehitabel AGE ESTIMATION (MEDICOLEGAL ESTIMATION OF AGE) Attempting to estimate the age of a person from the closure of his skull sutures is no less hazardous than doing so from graying of his hair; the only difference is that the former appears more technical! - Anil Aggrawal, Professor of Forensic Medicine, Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi, India If the first permanent molar hath not protruded, you can have no hesitation in affirming that the culprit has not passed his seventh year. - A.T. Thomson in his classical paper written as far back as 1836. The full quotation of the paper is "Thomson AT. (1836). Lectures on medical jurisprudence now in course of delivery at London University. Lancet 1:281-286 (This quote is reproduced in "Developmental Juvenile Osteology" by Louise Scheuer and Sue Black, Academic Press 2000 on page 12) ALCOHOL Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker. - Don Marquis, archys life of mehitabel The trouble with liquor is that one drink makes a new man out of you, and then the new man has to have another drink! - Alvy Moore Not drunk is he who from the floor Can rise alone and still drink more, But drunk is he who prostrate lies Without the power to drink or rise. - Thomas Love Peacock (1785-1866): English novelist and poet A drunkard is like a whiskey bottle; all neck and belly and no head! - Austin O'Malley In vino veritas (in wine there is truth) - Old Roman saying ANAESTHETIC DEATHS There are many minor operations, but no minor anesthesias. - Kenneth Heard (1897-1948) (Quoted in "Historical Medical Classics involving new drugs, by John C. Krantz, Jr. Ph.D. on page 112) Care charming sleep, thou loser of all woes. - Valentinion V (Cited in "Recent Advances in Forensic Pathology" edited by Francis E. Camps, J.& A. Churchill Ltd., 1969, on page 79, in Chapter 4 entitled "Respiration". This quote appears at the top of a sub-chapter entitled "Anaesthesia for dental treatment") ANALYSIS AND DEDUCTION I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories instead of theories to suit facts. - Sherlock Holmes in "A Scandal in Bohemia", when Dr. Watson asks him what he makes of a mysterious note which had just arrived. Whenever you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - "The Adventures of the Beryl Coronet" -Quoted on the front page of "An Introduction to Forensic DNA Analysis" by Keith Inman and Norah Rudin) Like all other arts, the Science of Deduction and Analysis is one which can only be acquired through long and patient study. - Sherlock Holmes in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Book of Life" (Quoted in "Hard Evidence" By David Fisher at page 1) ARSON AND FIRE INVESTIGATION The person who reports finding an arson is usually the person who set the fire. - Contributed by Harold J. Porter, Crown Counsel, Newfoundland, Canada (Address: Harold J. Porter, Department of Justice , Civil Division, 4th Floor , East Block,Confederation Building, St. John's Newfoundland A1B 4J6, TEL 709-729-1179, FAX 709-729-2129. Mr. Porter goes on to add "this is not a well-known maxim, but an accurate one, in my limited experience". The quote was sent on 20 December 1999. To me this quote sounds much like "The murderer always returns to the scene of crime". Visitors to this page are welcome to send relevant comments) Time is an enemy to the fire investigator. - Paul E. Pritzker, P.E. (quoted on page 37 in Chapter 3 written by him on "fire investigation" in the book "Forensic Engineering" by Kenneth L. Carper (CRC Press 1998)) (Pritzker follows up the quote with this explanation: When one is called late to investigate a fire, physical evidence may have been altered or may have deteriorated) Wellington once said that the Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eaton. It is important to prepare before arrival at the fire scene! - Paul E. Pritzker, P.E. (quoted on page 35 in Chapter 3 written by him on "fire investigation" in the book "Forensic Engineering" by Kenneth L. Carper (CRC Press 1998)) ASPHYXIA The term "Asphyxia" is a partial misnomer, as many of the conditions described under this heading are not truly asphyxial in nature; the term is both inappropriate and inaccurate. - Bernard Knight (Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition, page 345) Anoxia begets anoxia. - G.K. Dinker Petechial hemorrhages, congestion and edema, cyanosis, engorgement of the right heart and fluidity of the blood are the obsolete diagnostic quintet of asphyxial deaths. - Lester Adelson ( Quoted by Bernard Knight in his Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition at page 347) Traumatic asphyxia provides the most extreme demonstration of the classic signs of asphyxia. - Bernard Knight (Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition, page 358) His face is black and full of blood, His eye balls farther out than when he lived, Staring full ghastly, a strangled man, His hair upreared, his nostrils stretched with struggling, His hands abroad displayed, as one that grasped, And tugged for life, and was by strength subdued. - William Shakespeare I thought I could not breathe in that fine air, That pure severity of perfect light. - Tennyson (Quoted in "The Pathology of Trauma" 2nd Edition, Edited by J.K.Mason, page 204) (N.B. Please also look up quotes under "Hanging") ASPHYXIA, AUTOEROTIC Those kids are stupid. They don't know what they're doing. - A 16 year old boy to his mother, who showed him an article about autoerotic deaths in a newspaper (Reproduced from "Practical Homicide Investigation-Tactics, Procedures, and Forensic Techniques", Second Edition, by Vernon J. Geberth, page 278) (N.B. Interestingly, the boy himself was engaged in such activities, and was found dead two weeks later) Vladimir: “What do we do now?” Estragon: “Wait.” Vladimir: “Yes, but while waiting.” Estragon: “What about hanging ourselves?” Vladimir: “Hmm. It’d give us an erection.” Estragon: (highly excited) “An erection! ... Let’s hang ourselves immediately!” - Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot (reproduced also at page 10 of "Autoerotic Asphyxiation: Forensic, Medical, and Social Aspects" by Sergey Sheleg and Edwin Ehrlich. Wheatmark, Inc. 2006) ASSAULTS A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. - Luke 10:30 (Quoted in "The Pathology of Trauma" 2nd Edition, Edited by J.K.Mason, page 109) AUTOPSY The next time I see a doctor, it had better be for an autopsy. - A.J. Duhe, linebacker for the Miami Dolphins, after his fifth knee operation, 1985 (Quoted in "The Autopsy-Medical Practice and Public Policy" by Rolla B. Hill and Robert E. Anderson; Butterworths 1988, page 157) In some autopsy laboratories, the most significant breakthrough during the last 100 years has been the introduction of disposable gloves! - Jan Vincents Johannessen et al. 1979 (Quoted in "The Autopsy-Medical Practice and Public Policy" by Rolla B. Hill and Robert E. Anderson; Butterworths 1988, page 175) There's nothing like an autopsy for prognosis. - Anonymous (Contributed by Dean H. Garrison, Jr., Crime Scene Technician.) Often the autopsy reveals the diseases and lesions that the person lived with, rather than those that killed him! - Anonymous If an autopsy is worth doing at all, it is worth doing right the first time. - LeMoyne Snyder in his book "Homicide Investigation", (Third Edition, May 1977) Published by Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, Illinois, USA, on page 158, in chapter 7 entitled "Homicide due to Gunshot Wounds" A good pathologist holds a knife just like a violinist holds a bow. - Contributed by Dr. Gyan Fernando, Home Office accredited Consultant Forensic Pathologist for Devon & Cornwall Constabulary We have plenty of post-mortem examinations but often these are useless because the history of the case is not known. - J. Kerr Love (1897). Some Modern Aspects of Deaf-Mutism, J. Laryngology, 12, 593 (Quoted in Pathology of the Ear by I. Friedmann, 1974, Blackwell Scientific Publications) (N.B. This short and pithy quote, although more than 100 years old, remains valid even today.) AUTOPSY RISKS There is still not a single documented case of a pathologist or a technician getting AIDS from their professional activities. - Contributed by Dr. Gyan Fernando, Home Office accredited Consultant Forensic Pathologist for Devon & Cornwall Constabulary The fact that I have never caught anything from an autopsy in 25 years of carving in two different parts of the world should put everyone's mind at ease. - Contributed by Dr. Gyan Fernando, Home Office accredited Consultant Forensic Pathologist for Devon & Cornwall Constabulary You are more likely to injure yourself with blunt knives than with sharp ones! - Contributed by Dr. Gyan Fernando, Home Office accredited Consultant Forensic Pathologist for Devon & Cornwall Constabulary BATTERED BABY SYNDROME Spare the rod! - Title of a paper by James E. George of the Emergency Department, Underwood Memorial Hospital, Woodbury, N.J. (U.S.A.) on Battered Baby Syndrome published in Forensic Science, 2 (1973) 129-167 Hark ye, good parents, to my words true and plain, When you are shaking your baby, you could be bruising his brain. So, save the limbs, the brain, even the life of your tot; By shaking him never; never and not. - a quatrain from the paper “On the Theory and Practice of Shaking Infants” published in Amer. J. Dis. Chil,. on page 169. Full reference of the article is this: Caffey, John. On the Theory and Practice of Shaking infants. Amer. J. Dis. Child. August 1972, Vol. 124, no. 2, Pp 161-169 Whiplash-shaking is practiced commonly in a wide variety of ways, under a wide variety of circumstances, by a wide variety of persons, for a wide variety of reasons. - John Caffey of “Caffey’s syndrome” fame in his paper: On the Theory and Practice of Shaking infants. Amer. J. Dis. Child. August 1972, Vol. 124, no. 2, Pp 161-169, on page 161 BLOOD STAINS Out damned spot! Out, I say Here's the smell of the blood still, All the perfumes of Arabia will not Sweeten this little hand. Oh, Oh, Oh! - William Shakespeare Blood though it sleeps a time, yet never dies, The Gods on murtherers fix revengeful eyes. - Dryden (The Cock and the Fox) Any butcher is just as good an expert on that as this witness. - Commonwealth v. Sturtivant (1875) (Quoted in “Scientific and Legal Applications of Bloodstain Pattern Interpretation” Ed. Stuart H. James, page 122) (N.B. A little background above the above quote may be appreciated. In this case, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court addressed the admissibility of blood spatter interpretation and the qualifications of an “expert”. The witness, a chemist accustomed to chemical and microscopic examination of blood and bloodstains, testified for the prosecution as to directionality; i.e., “if the force of a stream of liquid, whatever it may be, and especially blood, be from below upward, the heaviest portion of the drop will stop at the further end of the stain; if from above downward, it will stop below.”. Defence counsel objected to this testimony at trial, stating, “That is pure opinion as to a matter of mechanics, not chemistry. Any butcher is just as good an expert on that as this witness.”) When blood is their argument. - King Henry V, iv, i (Cited in "Recent Advances in Forensic Pathology" edited by Francis E. Camps, J.& A. Churchill Ltd., 1969, on page 161, in Chapter 9 entitled “Immunoserology”) (N.B. See also under “Disputed paternity”) BRUISES It is impossible to comment on the age of a bruise less than 24 hours since infliction. - Bernard Knight (Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition, page 143) It is not practicable to construct an accurate calendar of the color changes of bruises, as was done in older textbooks. - Bernard Knight (Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition, page 143) If anyone thinks that he can accurately tell you the age of a bruise based on its appearance, he needs to have some serious re-education. - Jo Duflou, in an E-mail to a Forensic Discussion Group on Fri, 27 Oct 2000 NSW Institute of Forensic Medicine BURNS AND SCALDS Traditionally most authors claim that differentiation can be made between an ante-mortem and a post-mortem blister by an analysis for protein and chloride in the fluid; but I have yet to meet a pathologist who does this as a routine! One suspects that the test is another of the apocryphal procedures that have been handed down from textbook to textbook without verification. - Bernard Knight (Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition, page 310-1) The exposed skin surface may be reddened in both ante-mortem and post-mortem burns; the classical distinction of a "red flare" or "vital reaction" is unsafe as an index of infliction before death. - Bernard Knight (Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition, page 310) Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burnt? - Proverbs 6:27 (Quoted in "The Pathology of Trauma" 2nd Edition, Edited by J.K.Mason, page 178) CAPITAL PUNISHMENT Don’t hang me too high.... for the sake of decency. - Mary Blandy, who murdered her father with arsenic to her executioner in 1775 (quoted in “Murder - Whatdunit” by J.H.H. Gaute and Robin Odell, page 40) CARDIAC AND VASCULAR LESIONS I would not have such a heart in my bosom for the dignity of the whole body. - Anonymous (Cited in "Recent Advances in Forensic Pathology" edited by Francis E. Camps, J.& A. Churchill Ltd., 1969, on page 17, in Chapter 3 entitled "Cardiology and Vascular Lesions") CAUSE OF DEATH The causes of death appear, unto our shame, perpetual. - Winter’s Tale (Quoted in “The Pathology of Trauma” 2nd Edition, Edited by J.K.Mason, page 1) Coronary atherosclerois is the Captain of the Men of Death. - Partially modified from a statement in Bernard Knight’s “Forensic Pathology”, 2nd Edition, page 488 Never diagnose two diseases when one will account for all the findings. -A common teaching (Cited in "Recent Advances in Forensic Pathology" edited by Francis E. Camps, J.& A. Churchill Ltd., 1969, on page 221, in Chapter 13 entitled “Medico-Legal aspects of Exotic Diseases”) (N.B. This quote comes with an interesting rider. The author goes on to say,”When dealing with patients who have travelled in the less developed parts of the world this rule should be reversed; never be satisfied that you have made a complete diagnosis when you have only found one abnormality.”) CHILD ABUSE Child abuse is the difference between a hand on the bottom and a fist in the face. - Henry Kempe COMPUTERS AND FORENSICS I’ll never write to my mistress using the wife’s PC again! - A Security Manager in a large company who witnessed computer forensic techniques in action (Quoted in “Computer Evidence: A Forensic Investigations Handbook” by Edward Wilding, page 183, on the last page of chapter 6 entitled “The Forensic Examination of PCs”) CRIMINAL INTERROGATION And He said,“Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?” - Genesis 3:11 (Quoted by LeMoyne Snyder in his book “Homicide Investigation”, (Third Edition, May 1977) Published by Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, Illinois, USA, on page 87, in chapter 6 entitled “Scientific Criminal Interrogation”. This, according to the author, is the earliest example of Criminal Interrogation.) You are going to have to talk to people.. .. talk to people and make them feel like people.. .. you get a lot of results that way.. .. very smooth, very quiet. - E.W.Count, Cop Talk, Pocket Books, 1994 (Quoted in “Criminal Investigation - Basic Perspectives” by Paul B. Weston, Charles Lushbaugh and Kenneth M. Wells, eighth edition, 2000, Prentice Hall, page 134) CUTIS ANSERINA (See Drowning) DACTYLOGRAPHY Fingerprints can not lie, but liars can make fingerprints. - Paraphrase of a Old Proverb “Figures do not lie, but liars can do figures” (Reproduced in the “Journal of Forensic Sciences” Vol 44, No. 5, September 1999, on page 963, at the top of the Paper “A chronological Review of Fingerprint Forgery” by B. Geller et al.) Jekyll’s finger patterns remain the same when he transforms himself into Hyde! - Henry Faulds (1843-1930), one of the founders of the science of dactylography, commenting on the famous story “The Strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson, stressing that despite a complete change in appearance, the person could still be caught by the science of dactylography. (Quoted in “Suspect Identities - A History of Fingerprinting and Criminal Identification” by Simon A. Cole, Harvard University press, 2001, Page 3) Every human being carries with him from his cradle to his grave certain physical marks which do not change their character, and by which he can always be identified - and that without shade of doubt or question. These marks are his signature, his physiological autograph, so to speak, and this autograph can not be counterfeited, nor can he disguise it or hide it away, nor can it become illegible by the wear and mutations of time. This signature is not his face - age can change that beyond recognition; it is not his hair, for that can fall out; it is not his height, for duplicates of that exist; it is not his form, for duplicates of that exist also, whereas this signature is this man's very own - there is no duplicate of it among the swarming populations of the globe. This autograph consists of the delicate lines or corrugations with which Nature marks the insides of the hands and the soles of the feet. - Samuel Clemens, writing as Mark Twain, in The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson, 1894 (Quoted by Colin Beavan, at the beginning of his book “Fingerprints - The origins of crime detection and the murder case that launched forensic science”, Hyperion, New York, 2001 A fingerprint expert can tell apart the marks of two digits more easily than he can differentiate two people’s faces. - Colin Beavan, on page 11 of his book “Fingerprints - The origins of crime detection and the murder case that launched forensic science”, Hyperion, New York, 2001 A person’s fingerprint set is like a biological seal which, one impressed, can never be denied. - Colin Beavan, on page 11 of his book “Fingerprints - The origins of crime detection and the murder case that launched forensic science”, Hyperion, New York, 2001 Fingerprints are like pages from the Recording Angel’s book of deeds. - Colin Beavan, on page 14 of his book “Fingerprints - The origins of crime detection and the murder case that launched forensic science”, Hyperion, New York, 2001 The glands make each finger like a self-inking rubber stamp, leaving calling cards on every surface it touches. - Colin Beavan, on page 14 of his book “Fingerprints - The origins of crime detection and the murder case that launched forensic science”, Hyperion, New York, 2001 But by far the most beautiful and characteristic of all superficial marks are the small furrows, with the intervening ridges and their pores that are disposed in a singularly complex yet regular order on the under surfaces of the hands and feet. - Francis Galton in his lecture “Personal Description and Identification” at the weekly evening meeting of the Royal Institution on May 25, 1888. Quoted by Colin Beavan, in his book “Fingerprints - The origins of crime detection and the murder case that launched forensic science”, Hyperion, New York, 2001, page 105 No scientific basis exists for requiring that a pre-determined minimum number of friction ridge features must be present in two impressions in order to establish a positive identification. - The “Ne’urim Declaration” 1995 (Quoted in “Suspect Identities - A History of Fingerprinting and Criminal Identification” by Simon A. Cole, Harvard University press, 2001, Page 259) I at first had little faith in this expert evidence, but after the experiment conducted by Lieutenant Faurot in the court-room, in the presence of the Court and jury….. when he was able to designate the person who made the imprint on the glass, I became satisfied that there is something to this science. - Judge Otto A. Rosalsky, sentencing hearing, “People of the State of New York v. Carlo Crispi, 1911 (Quoted in “Suspect Identities - A History of Fingerprinting and Criminal Identification” by Simon A. Cole, Harvard University press, 2001, Page 168) DIATOMS There is hardly a medicolegal journal that has not taken part in the “war of diatoms” in one way or another. - Spitz and Fisher in their book “Medicolegal Investigation of Death” 2nd Edition, page 360 The forensic pathology community has been, historically, polarized in its general acceptance of the diatom test as a definitive diagnostic test for drowning. - Michael S. Pollanen in his excellent book “Forensic Diatomology and drowning”, Elsevier, 1998 at page 6 DISPUTED PATERNITY A trial of bastardy is a trial of the blood. - Y.B., 12 Edw. 2, 388 (ed. 1679 from Sergeant Maynard’s MS) (From “Legal Medicine Annual, 1976, page 239, appearing at the top of the article “Paternity Actions - A matter of opinion or a trial of blood?” by Michael J. Beautyman) DISSECTION AND OBSERVATION Those who have dissected or inspected many bodies have at least learnt to doubt; while others who are ignorant of anatomy and do not take the trouble to attend it are in no doubt at all. - Giovanni Battista Morgagni (1682-1771); Italian Anatomist and Pathologist The corpse is a silent witness who never lies. - Anonymous Pay attention to the little things, and the big things will take care of themselves. - S. Venston Oh! Look, the dead teach the living! - Winternitz Taceant colloquia. Effugiat risus. Hic locus est ubi mors gaudet succurrere vitae. (Let conversation cease. Let laughter flee. This is the place where death delights to help the living) - Latin Proverb (Quoted in Bernard Knight’s “Forensic Pathology” at the Title Page. This quote is also supposed to have been inscribed on the lobby wall of Milton Helpern’s new office building {Milton Helpern was the third Chief Medical Examiner of the City of New York}) Mortui vivos docent - The dead teach the living. - Anonymous (Quoted in "The Autopsy-Medical Practice and Public Policy" by Rolla B. Hill and Robert E. Anderson; Butterworths 1988, page 191) Only the living have problems with the dead. Death is a mystery only to the living, and the living look to death for help - (From the frontpage of a forensic medicine practical notebook prescribed for undergraduate students at the Department of Forensic Medicine, Al-Ameen Medical College, Bijapur, India) Death comes to the aid of life. - An inscription in a Paris dissecting room I see no more than you, but I have trained myself to notice what I see. - Sherlock Holmes, "The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier" (Quoted in "Forensic Investigation of Explosives" Ed. Alexander Beveridge. Page 101 What the mind knows, the eyes will detect - (From the frontpage of a forensic medicine practical notebook prescribed for undergraduate students at the Department of Froensic Medicine, Al-Ameen Medical College, Bijapur, India) Dead body is extremely eloquent and honestly informative, if one exercises patience in listening to it. - Anonymous No autopsy should be taken as trivial; even those appearing most routine may throw up unexpected surprises. - Anil Aggrawal DNA TECHNOLOGY We wish to suggest a structure for the salt of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)…. - James D. Watson and Francis H.C. Crick in a scientific article published in “Nature” on April 23, 1953 (N.B. This quote is given in the book “DNA Technology - The Awesome skill” by I. Edward Alcamo, at the top of the Preface section. The author goes on to say that this article - with this opening sentence - stimulated a revolution in science and medicine. 31 years later - in 1984 - (Sir) Alec Jeffreys would develop the first DNA profiling test.) DNA technology could be the greatest single advance in the search for truth, conviction of the guilty, and aquittal of the innocent since the advent of cross-examination. - Judge Joseph Harris (1988) in People vs Wesley, 140 Misc. 2d 306, 533 N.Y.S. 2d 643 (Co. Ct. 1988) (Quoted in “DNA Fingerprinting- An introduction” by Lorne T. Kirby page xv: Stockton Press, 1990) DNA technology is the most awesome skill acquired since the splitting of the atom. - Editorial in a major news magazine (Reproduced on the back jacket of the book “DNA Technology - The Awesome skill” by I. Edward Alcamo) We have the potential within our grasp of a technology that in routine investigations will identify suspects as reliably as fingerprints. - Jeremy Travis, Director, National Institute of Justice (quoted in “Blood Trail - True crime mysteries solved by DNA Detectives” by Judge Gerald Sheindlin and Catherine Whitney on page 117) If we had called this “idiosyncratic Southern blot profiling,” nobody would have taken a blind bit of notice. Call it “DNA fingerprinting,” and the penny dropped. - Alect Jeffreys, 1996 (Quoted in “Suspect Identities - A History of Fingerprinting and Criminal Identification” by Simon A. Cole, Harvard University press, 2001, Page 287) Our genetic differences are at the heart of one of the most fascinating paradoxes of the human condition: that we are all different, yet we are all the same. - Geneticist Mary-Claire King, 1993 (Quoted in “Suspect Identities - A History of Fingerprinting and Criminal Identification” by Simon A. Cole, Harvard University press, 2001, Page 303) DROWNING Odysseus bent his knees and sturdy arms, exhausted by his struggle with the sea. All his flesh was swollen and streams of brine gushed from his mouth and nostrils. Winded and speechless he lay there too weak to stir, overwhelmed by his terrible fatigue. - The Odyessey, Calypso (Book V), Homer (Quoted in the Preface in “Forensic Diatomology and drowning” by Michael S. Pollanen) Lord, Lord! methought what pain it was to drown, What dreadful noise of water in mine ears! What sights of ugly death within mine eyes. - Shakespeare, Richard III (1 iv), (Quoted in “Medicine, Science and the Law” (1980), Vol 20, No. 4, page 254; and also in "The Pathology of Trauma" 2nd Edition, Edited by J.K.Mason, page 214) If the man go to the water and drown himself, it is, will he, nill he, he goes. - Hamlet, Act V, Scene I (Cited in "Recent Advances in Forensic Pathology" edited by Francis E. Camps, J.& A. Churchill Ltd., 1969, on page 70, in Chapter 4 entitled “Respiration”. This quote appears at the top of a sub-chapter entitled “Immersion in fluids”) The ability to swim is not an important correlate of drowning since most victims of drowning are able to swim. - Michael S. Pollanen in his book “Forensic Diatomology and drowning”, Elsevier, 1998 at page 8 Cutis anserina or gooseflesh (is) due to postmortem rigidity of short muscle fibers in the skin. - Caption to figure II-2, on page 15 in “Medicolegal Investigation of Death”, by W.U. Spitz and Russell S. Fisher, 2nd Edition, 1980, Charles C. Thomas, Springfiled, Illinois, USA Cutis anserina - or ‘goose flesh’ - is a common finding in immersed bodies.. ..It is often stated that rigor mortis can produce this goose-flesh appearance, but this is doubtful, as rigor does not shorten muscles appreciably. - Bernard Knight in his “Forensic Pathology” 2nd Edition 1996, page 391 (N.B. Last two quotes are antethetical in nature - and both are from contemporary books - meaning thereby that this controversy is far from over) DYADIC DEATHS “I kissed thee ere I killed thee. No way but this, Killing myself to die upon a kiss.” (He falls over her and dies) - Othello exclaiming after killing Desdemona and stabbing himself. Othello, Act 5, Scene 2, William Shakespeare (Quoted in “Combined Homicide-Suicide in Galveston County” by Alan R. Felthouse et.al. J. Forens. Sci. 2001, 46(3) 586-592”. This quote appears on page 586) EMBOLISM BULLET Missiles often attain more curious places by accident than they could by design. - Sir John Bland-Sutton in his classic paper “A lecture on missiles as emboli”. Lancet, i:773, 1919 (This interesting quote is reproduced in the paper“Rich N.M. et. al. Missile Emboli. The Journal of Trauma, 1978, Vol 18. No. 4, on page 237) The occurrence of free projectiles in the bloodstream, although doubtless very rare, has already become something more than a surgical curiosity, and its possibility may well be borne in mind by those who observe anomalous symptoms after gunshot wounds, especially when the projectile is not found. - Editorial: Migration of projectiles in the blood stream. Lancet, ii: 395, 1917 (This interesting quote is reproduced in the paper “Rich N.M. et. al. Missile Emboli. The Journal of Trauma, 1978, Vol 18. No. 4, on page 237) Understandably, the literature on bullet embolism consists of a number of single case reports. - Lam, C.R. and McIntyre, R. Air pistol injury of pulmonary artery and aorta: Report of a case with peripheral embolization and pellet and residual aorticopulmonary fistula. J. Thorac. Cardiovascular Surg., 59: 729, 1970 (This interesting quote is reproduced in the paper “Rich N.M. et. al. Missile Emboli. The Journal of Trauma, 1978, Vol 18. No. 4, on page 236) An aura of mystery and intrigue often surrounds these unusual lesions. - Norman M. Rich, in his paper “Rich N.M. et. al. Missile Emboli. The Journal of Trauma, 1978, Vol 18. No. 4, on page 236” PULMONARY Pulmonary embolism is the most underdiagnosed cause of death, where no autopsy is performed. - Bernard Knight (Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition, page 334) EXHUMATION Those who arrange exhumations, and doubtless sleep through them, have always assumed that if timed at the crack of dawn an exhumation will be quiet, private affair. - Professor Keith Simpson, in his autobiography “Forty Years of Murder”, Grafton Books 1978, at page 234) EXPERT TESTIMONY The role of the expert witness is not to provide the evidence which supports the case for the Crown nor for the defence, unless that opinion is objectively reached and has scientific vailidity. - Practice Guidelines of the Police Advisory Board in Forensic Pathology of the British Home Office (Quoted in Bernard Knight's Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition, Preface) A good medical expert must serve but one client, and that client should be truth. - Erle Stanley Gardner If the law has made you a witness, remain a man of science; you have no victim to avenge or guilty or innocent person to ruin or save. You must bear testimony within the limits of science. - Dr. P.C.H. Brouardel( Late 19th century French Medico-Legist)(Reproduced in “Forensic Radiology” by B.G. Brogdon, at page 364. Also quoted in “The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology”, Vol 20, Number 1, March 1999 at page 17, where it is attributed to Paul H. Broussard, Chair of Forensic Medicine, Sorbonne, 1897) The conscience is a thousand witnesses. - Richard Taverner Let no man swear on oath falsely, even in a trifling matter, for he who swears on oath falsely, is lost in this world and after death. - Manu (Ancient Hindu Law giver) You can lead a jury to the truth, but you can’t make them believe it. - Herbert Leon Macdonell (Quoted at the opening page in his book “The Evidence never lies”) An expert, as the word imports, is one having had experience. No clearly defined rule is to be found in the books what constitutes an expert. Much depends upon the nature of the question in regard to which an opinion is asked. - Oil Co. v. Gilson, 63 Pa. St. 146, 150 (1869) (Quoted in “Scientific and Legal Applications of Bloodstain Pattern Interpretation” Ed. Stuart H. James, page 131) "..the thing from which the deduction is made must be sufficiently established to have gained general acceptance in the particular field in which it belongs" - (Frye v. United States (1923), often known as "The Frye Standard". In this case, the scientific evidence being presented was the theory underlying lie-detector testing. It ultimately was not admitted and remains inadmissible to this day in law courts) "For gauging the scientific validity of evidence, it should be seen whether the technique in question can be or has been tested; whether the technique has been subjected to peer review and publication; its known or potential error rate; the existence of standards controlling its operation and whether the methodology in question has attracted widespread acceptance within the relevant scientific community." - US Supreme Court in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 113 S.C.T. 2786 (1993); popularly referred to as the “Daubert Standard” There is nothing worse than a pompous expert. - Judge Haskell M. Pitluck (Reproduced in “Forensic Radiology” by B.G. Brogdon, at page 372) Expert witnesses should refrain from conducting themselves as though their service is a contest between themselves and some other party. - Reproduced from the document entitled “Recommended Practices for Design Professionals Engaged as Experts in the Resolution of Construction Industry Disputes” prepared by The Association of Soil and Foundation Engineers (ASFE) (quoted on page 353 in the book “Forensic Engineering” by Kenneth L. Carper (CRC Press 1998)) The witness must never be considered an advocate, and should always “call the shots as they are”. - Joseph S. Ward, P.E. (quoted on page 336 in Chapter 12 written by him on “The Engineer as Expert Witness” in the book “Forensic Engineering” by Kenneth L. Carper (CRC Press 1998)) For every expert there is an equal and opposite expert. - Contributed by Mike Duxbury Direct questioning in the initial stages of a trial is like a walk in the park when compared with the antagonistic manner evident in cross examination. - Tom Bevel and Ross M. Gardner in “Bloodstain pattern analysis” CRC Press, 1997, page 271 What the doctor puts into his report at the time of examination must be of sufficient resilience to survive intense cross-examination in the court room many months later. - Bernard Knight in “The Estimation of the Time Since Death in the Early Postmortem Period”, Edward Arnold, 1995, page 2 FALL FROM HEIGHTS Falls from heights represent the third most common cause of accidental death in the United States. - National Safety Council. Accidental Facts, 1985 Chicago. National Safety Council, 1985 (Quoted in the paper "The Investigation of Fatal Falls and Jumps from Heights in Maryland (1987-1992)" by Ling Li and John E. Smialek. American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology 15(4):295-299, 1994) FOETUS, AGE OF Morphological measurements are by no means infallible indicators of chronological age. - Bernard Knight (Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition, page 444) The time of appearance of ossification centers (in a foetus) is no longer as uniform as once thought. - Bernard Knight (Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition, page 444) FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY That's how I feel about the skeletons in my laboratory. These have tales to tell us, even though they are dead. It is up to me, the forensic anthropologist, to catch their mute cries and whispers, and to interpret them for the living, as long as I am able. - William R. Maples (1937-1997), the famous Forensic Anthropologist, in his book "Dead Men do tell tales" at page 280 (published by Doubleday, New York, 1994) For me, every day is Halloween. - William R. Maples in his book "Dead Men do tell tales" at page 2 FORENSIC ART AND ILLUSTRATION It has been said that pen is mightier than the sword.. .. if used correctly, so is the pencil.. . - Karen T. Taylor in her book "Forensic Art and Illustration", CRC Press 2001, at page 561 FORENSIC BALLISTICS A cartridge case at the scene of offence could prove as incriminating as if the murderer had left his visiting card! - Sir Sydney Smith Second only to motor vehicles as instruments of death, firearms will kill more than 32,000 Americans this year. - (National Research Council 1985: Reproduced in "Gunshot Wounds - Pathophysiology and Management" by Kenneth G. Swan & Roy C. Swan. 2nd Edition, 1989, Yearbook Medical Publishers Inc. Chicago, at page ix) Gunshot wounds are now becoming almost a distinct branch of surgery - (J.A. Hunter in "Treatise on the Blood, inflammation and Gunshot wounds: London, G. Nicol, 1794: Reproduced in "Gunshot Wounds - Pathophysiology and Management" by Kenneth G. Swan & Roy C. Swan. 2nd Edition, 1989, Yearbook Medical Publishers Inc. Chicago, at page 1) We are aware of no report of a penetrating wound of the abdomen, during pregnancy, not involving the uterus - (Dyer I, Barclay D: Accidental Trauma complicating pregnancy and delivery. Am. J. Obstet. Gynec. 1962; 83: 907) Only a man who has a pistol needs it. - An old saying My wife yes; My dog maybe; My gun never! - Bumper Sticker (Quoted in "Gunshot Wounds", 2nd Edition, by Vincent J. M. Di Maio, on page 1) There is nothing more exhilarating than to be shot at without result. - Winston Churchill (Quoted in "Gunshot Wounds", 2nd Edition, by Vincent J. M. Di Maio, on page 65) God created men equal. Sam Colt made 'em equal. - Anonymous (Quoted in "Gunshot Wounds", 2nd Edition, by Vincent J. M. Di Maio, on page 123) The U.S. Exports Coca Cola; Japan exports Sony; Russia exports Kalashnikovs. - Anonymous (Quoted in "Gunshot Wounds", 2nd Edition, by Vincent J. M. Di Maio, on page 167) Is there life after death? Trespass and find out. - Bumper Sticker (Quoted in "Gunshot Wounds", 2nd Edition, by Vincent J. M. Di Maio, on page 253) This property is protected by Smith & Wesson. - Bumper Sticker (Quoted in "Gunshot Wounds", 2nd Edition, by Vincent J. M. Di Maio, on page 253) It is always hazardous to conclude that a person could not have done some rational act after receiving gunshot wounds in vital organs. - LeMoyne Snyder in his book "Homicide Investigation", (Third Edition, May 1977) Published by Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, Illinois, USA, on page 139, in chapter 7 entitled "Homicide due to Gunshot Wounds" You will acquire a deep understanding of that ancient Christian moral principle, as applied to aimed fire,"It is better to give than to receive" - George Prosser, Black Politics, 1968 (quoted at the beginning of the book "Armed and Dangerous - A writer's guide to weapons" by Michael Newton, Writer's Digest Books, Ohio, 1990) There is nothing wrong with shooting, as long as the right people get shot. - "Dirty Harry" Callahan (quoted at the beginning of the book "Armed and Dangerous - A writer's guide to weapons" by Michael Newton, Writer's Digest Books, Ohio, 1990) Whatever happens, we have got, The Maxim gun and they have not. - A popular jingle quite popular with the imperialists in the late 19th and early 20th Century. (Quoted by Isaac Asimov in "Asimov's New Guide to Science", Penguin Books 1987, page 495) (N.B. In the 1860s the American Inventor Richard Gatling produced the first machine gun. This was improved upon in the 1880s by another American inventor Hiram Stevens Maxim in 1880s. These guns were respectively called the Gatling gun and the Maxim gun. The Gatling gun also gave rise to the slang gat for gun. These guns gave tremendous advantage to the Imperialists over Africans and Asians. The word "they" in the jingle refers to these Africans and Asians.) FORENSIC ENTOMOLOGY 'Who saw him die?' 'I', said the fly 'With my little eye, I saw him die.' - Anon., 'Who killed Cock Robin' (quoted by Zakaria Erzinçlioglu in his book "Maggots, Murder and Men - Memories and Reflections of a Forensic Entomologist" Harley Books, England 2000, on page 13) In the midst of all this decay, death calls in reinforcements. - Heather Pringle in her book "The Mummy Congress - Science, Obsession, and the Everlasting Dead", Theia, New York, 2001, page 39 FORENSIC MYTHOLOGY Descriptions of an abnormal fluidity of blood seen at autopsy in asphyxial deaths are part of forensic mythology and can be dismissed with little discussion. - Bernard Knight (Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition, 1996, page 350) Persistent fluidity of the blood likely relates to inhibition of the coagulation process due to some unknown mechanism. - Michael S. Pollanen in his book "Forensic Diatomology and drowning", Elsevier, 1998 at page 26 (N.B. Quotes 1 and 2 are antethetical in nature - and both are from contemporary books - meaning thereby that this controversy is far from over. For other similar forensic controversies, see quotes on "Petechial haemorrhages" and "Hydrostatic Test") Descriptions and photographs of air segments in the cerebral veins are part of the mythology of forensic pathology, handed on uncritically from one book and one author to another. - Bernard Knight (Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition, page 342 and 433) (N.B. Knight tells us through this pithy quote that air-embolism can not be, and should not, be diagnosed by seeing air bubbles in cortical veins, because there is simply no way, air bubbles could travel upstream!) FORENSIC ODONTOSTOMATOLOGY The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! - Through the Looking Glass (Cited in "Recent Advances in Forensic Pathology" edited by Francis E. Camps, J.& A. Churchill Ltd., 1969, on page 137, in Chapter 7 entitled "Odontology: its Forensic Applications") Dormouse to the expanding Alice : "I wish you wouldn't squeeze so" said the Dormouse who was sitting next to her. "I can hardly breathe." "I can't help it" said Alice very meekly, "I'm growing." "You've no right to grow here" said the Dormouse. "Don't talk nonsense," said Alice more boldly: "you know you're growing too."Yes, but I grow at a reasonable pace," said the Dormouse. "Not in that ridiculous fashion." - Cited in Lovat LS. The prosecution view of dental evidence. J Forensic Sci Soc. 1974 Jul;14(3):253-8. This quote – my favorite – is very cleverly cited by Lovat to show how sometimes science can grow at a much faster rate that associated law. In this very pertinent allegory, while Alice refers to the fast growing science of forensic odontostomatology, the Dormouse refers to “not so fast growing” law, which may have difficulties accepting dental evidence. FORENSIC OSTEOLOGY The skin and bones tell a story which the child is either too young or too frightened to tell. - Johnson, Cameron and Camps (Quoted in Bernard Knight's Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition, page 458) It is difficult for me to evaluate how a single skull is classified as white, or Negro, or Mongoloid. - W.M.Krogman, in his "The Human Skeleton in Forensic Medicine" (1962), at page 195 As those who study them have come to learn, bones make good witnesses - although they speak softly, they never lie and they never forget. - Dr. Clyde Collins Snow, forensic anthropologist (Quoted in "The Bone Detectives" by Donna M. Jackson at the front page) FORENSIC PATHOLOGY AND FORENSIC PATHOLOGISTS Professor John Glaister II (1892-1971) He is the man who furnishes Perry Mason with so many authentic facts. - Erle Stanley Gardner on Professor John Glaister II (1892-1971), Professor of Forensic Medicine at Glasgow University, Scotland (Quoted in "The Bedside Book of Murder" by Richard & Molly Whittington-Egan, at page 171) Edward O. Heinrich (1881-1953) Just the mention of his name was enough to send shudders through opposing counsel. -Colin Evans on Edward O. Heinrich (1881-1953) in his book "The Casebook of Forensic Detection" John Wiley & Sons 1996, page 301 (N.B. Edward Oscar Heinrich was one of the most remarkable figures in the history of US Jurisprudence. Epithets commonly ascribed to him are "The American Sherlock Holmes" and "The Edison of Crime Detection") Henry C. Lee (1938-) How the hell did he know? - A defendant heard to whisper, after Lee had methodically walked the court through each step the killer took during the murders. (N.B. Lee used blood spatter and other other evidence to do this. This anecdote appears in "Cracking Cases" by Henry C. Lee with Thomas W. O'Neil, Prometheus books, 2002, page 9) Thomas T. Noguchi (1927- ) I love to enter the crime scene from the kitchen. - This is what Noguchi said, when interviewed in November 1986 by Douglas Stein. For full story please visit http://www.omnimag.com/index.html (Readers may want to know why. He follows up the above statement with this: People's minute-to-minute movements are registered here. I routinely open the refrigerator to get people's life-styles: the type of food they like, where they buy, how much they pay, how they wrap. In one homicide I investigated, the homeowner returned early, surprising the burglar, so the burglary ended in murder. But the burglar was hungry, so he had a bite to eat before leaving. We found distinct teeth marks in the cheese!") Sir Bernard Henry Spilsbury (1877-1947) ~ His Adulation He stood for forensic pathology as Hobbs stood for cricket or Dempsey for boxing or Capablanca for chess. - Edgar Lustgarten on Sir Bernard Henry Spilsbury (1877-1947), probably the greatest Forensic Pathologist, the English world has seen (Quoted in "The Bedside Book of Murder" by Richard & Molly Whittington-Egan, at page 164) He could achieve single-handed all the legal consequences of homicide - arrest, prosecution, conviction and final post-mortem - requiring only the brief assistance of the hangman. - Dr. Richard Gordon on Sir Bernard Henry Spilsbury (1877-1947) (Quoted in "The Bedside Book of Murder" by Richard & Molly Whittington-Egan, at page 164) A simple newspaper report of Sir Bernard's attendance at a mortuary or churchyard is enough to condemn an accused man to death, even before committal proceedings have begun. - Dr. Patrick Brontë, Spilsbury's bitter professional rival (this quote appears on page 25 in the article "Is Sir Bernard Spilsbury Dead?" in "Crime Investigation: Art or Science?", edited by Alistair R. Brownlie. Scottish Academic Press, Edinburgh 1984) ~ His Criticism When did you last examine a live patient Sir Bernard? - A young chirrupy young barrister to Sir Bernard Henry Spilsbury in the court room (Quoted in "The Bedside Book of Murder" by Richard & Molly Whittington-Egan, at page 164) Spilsbury's statements in the witness box were often based upon insufficient material, and a lack of clinical experience. - Professor Michael A. Green on page 24 in the article "Is Sir Bernard Spilsbury Dead?" in "Crime Investigation: Art or Science?", edited by Alistair R. Brownlie. Scottish Academic Press, Edinburgh 1984 When Sir Bernard speaks as a pathologist, I respect his opinion. When he gives a view on an obstetric matter, I hold him in contempt. - Alec Boune, the distinguished gynaecologist called by the defence in a case in which Spilsbury appeared from the other side (this quote appears on page 24 in the article "Is Sir Bernard Spilsbury Dead?" in "Crime Investigation: Art or Science?", edited by Alistair R. Brownlie. Scottish Academic Press, Edinburgh 1984) ~ His Conceit I have never claimed to be God - but merely his locum on his weekends off. - Bernard Spilsbury (this quote appears on page 25 in the article "Is Sir Bernard Spilsbury Dead?" in "Crime Investigation: Art or Science?", edited by Alistair R. Brownlie. Scottish Academic Press, Edinburgh 1984) Rudolph Virchow (1821-1902) Rudolph Ludwig Karl Virchow, where are you now that we need you? - Leon Eisenberg, 1984 (Quoted in "The Autopsy-Medical Practice and Public Policy" by Rolla B. Hill and Robert E. Anderson; Butterworths 1988, page 251) General The commonest causes of death amongst forensic pathologists are alcohol related! - Contributed by Dr. Gyan Fernando So why the dead body, the often smelly morgue, exhumation, lust and violence, the inconvenience of calls to derelict premises, dells in Epping Forest, ponds, prostitutes' bedrooms at odd hours; of sudden challenge, hard duels with lawyers, pompous old judges and obtuse juries? Why? - Professor Keith Simpson, asking himself the question "Why he chose Forensic Pathology despite being the best student in his medical career" (This interesting quote appears in his autobiography "Forty Years of Murder", Grafton Books 1978, at page 9) (N.B. Professor Keith Simpson follows it up with this answer: Well, few doctors can enjoy a more exciting life, such a challenge to be constantly on the qui vive, or should it be the qui meure?) As Stethoscope and BP Instruments are status symbols of a physician and Surgeon, so are Lens and Measuring tape to an Autopsy Surgeon. - Professor Heeresh Chandra (Quoted in his site) An operation during life is attended by pain and is for the benefit of the individuals. An operation after death is free from pain and is for the benefit of humanity. - Braouardel & Jasolin (Quoted by Professor Heeresh Chandra in his site) FORENSIC PHOTOGRAPHY A picture tells a thousand words. - An old adage (quoted in Chapter 9 of the book "Craniofacial Identification in Forensic Medicine". The chapter is on "Crime Scene Photography") A picture is worth a thousand words. However, few investigators may realize that 'a picture may also contain a thousand measurements'. - John H. Garstang, in chapter 6 entitled "Aircraft Explosive Sabotage Investigation" page 153, in the book "Forensic Investigation of Explosions" edited by Alexander Beveridge, Taylaor & Francis, 1998 (N.B. There is a veiled reference here to photogrammetry, a technique which is increasingly being used in forensic investigations now. Photogrammetry is the art, science and technology of obtaining reliable information about physical objects and the environment through processes of recording, measuring and interpreting photographic images and patterns of electromagnetic radiant energy and other phenomena.) A good photograph is tantamount to stopping the clock. - unknown (quoted on page 35 in Chapter 3 (fire investigation) of the book "Forensic Engineering" by Kenneth L. Carper (CRC Press 1998)) FORENSIC PSYCHIATRY ".. . the Tories have compelled me to do this. They follow and persecute me wherever I go and have entirely destroyed my peace of mind.. .," - Daniel M'Naughten 1843 (quoted in "Forensic pharmacology - Medicines, Mayhem, and Malpractice" by R.E. Ferner, Oxford University Press, 1996, page 66) (N.B. Daniel M'Naughten was a mentally disturbed person - a Scotsman from Glasgow. He had a delusion of persecution, that Tories were trying to kill him. In his time Sir Robert Peel was the Prime Minister of Britain - from December 1834 till March 1835, and then again from September 1841 till July 1846. On 20th January 1843, Daniel was seen loitering in Whitehall Gardens, and followed Mr. Edward Drummond, the private secretary of Sir Robert Peel, from Sir Robert Peel's house till a street in Charing Cross, where he shot him. He believed that Mr. Edward Drummond was the Prime Minister himself. Mr. Drummond lingered, in great pain, until January 25th, when he died. M'Naughten was brought to trial on 3rd March, 1843 at the Old Bailey before Chief Justice Tindal, and two other Queen's bench judges, Williams and Coleridge. It was at this historic trial that the famous "insanity defense" emerged, known to this day as the "M'Naughten rule".) -- We do not believe that anyone could be insane who wanted to murder a Conservative Prime Minister. - A young Queen Victoria (1840-1901) referring to Daniel M'Naughten (see above for details). The quote appears in "If A Man Be Mad - A scientist testifies against the insanity defense" by David T. Lykken. Lykken, who is a professor of psychiatry and psychology at the University of Minnesota, says that this was an immortal quip by Queen Victoria, not otherwise known for her wit. When you speak to God it's called praying; but when God speaks to you it's called schizophrenia. - A West German observer comment on the psychiatric evidence given during the Yorkshire Ripper's Trial (quoted in "Science Against Crime", Published by Marshall Cavendish, 1982, on page 175) (N. B. A brief note may be appropriate here. The Yorkshire Ripper or Peter Sutcliffe killed 13 women in Leeds and adjoining areas between October 1975 and November 1980. At his trial, which began May 1981, he said he had heard the voice of God instructing him to kill.) -- Such terms as 'mental disease and mental defect' give expert pyshiatric witnesses a blank check. - Justice Kaufman criticizing the Durham test (N. B. A brief note might well be in order here. In Durham vs. United States, 1954, Justice David L. Bazelon abandoned the M'Naghten criteria, and used a new criterion known as the Durham test, which was perpetually in criticism. It was finally overturned by Justice Bazelon himself in 1972 in United States vs. Brawner. The Durham rule stated that "an accused is not criminally responsible if his unlawful act was the product of mental disease or defect".) -- The psychiatrists spun sticky webs of pseudoscientific jargon, and in those webs the concept of justice, like a moth, fluttered feebly and was trapped. - A prominent columinst, after the 1982 verdict of a District of Columbia jury, which found John W. Hinckley, Jr., the would-be assassin of President Ronald Reagan, not guilty by reason of insanity (quoted in Kaplan and Sadock's Synopsis of Psychiatry - Behavioral Sciences/Clinical Psychiatry, eighth edition 1998, by Harold I. Kaplan, M.D. and Benjamin J. Sadock, M.D. Page 1316) Had M'Naghten been tried under M'Naghten's rules in any American court, there would have been a battle of the "experts" and M'Naghten would surely have been found legally sane and would have been found guilty as charged. - Matthew Brody, M.D., Acting Chief, Psychiatry, Brooklyn Jewish Hospital and Medical Center, testifying in 1965, before a joint legislative commission of the penal law and criminal code. This commission recommended some alteration of the M'Naghten Rule. This quote is reproduced by Matthew Brody himself in his paper entitled "Trial of Daniel M'Naghten" published in March 1982 issue of "New York State Journal of Medicine". This quote appears on page 381 A man might say that he picked a pocket from some uncontrollable impulse, and in that case the law would have an uncontrollable impulse to punish him for it. - Baron Alderson, the presiding judge deciding on the fate of Robert Pate, who went on trial in 1850 for the high misdemeanor of striking Queen Victoria with his walking stick. Pate's counsel had claimed irresistible impulse as a defence. The quote appears in "If A Man Be Mad - A scientist testifies against the insanity defense" by David T. Lykken. FORENSIC RADIOLOGY Now we see through a glass darkly. -I Corinthians 13 (Cited in "Recent Advances in Forensic Pathology" edited by Francis E. Camps, J.& A. Churchill Ltd., 1969, on page 149, in Chapter 8 entitled "Radiology and its forensic application") FORENSIC SCIENCE AND FORENSIC MEDICINE Forensic Science is the link between the criminal and the crime. - Ken Goddard, Wildlife Forensics, (quoted in Natur (German) Nov. 1990) Forensic Science can be defined as the application of the laws of nature to the laws of man. - Michael J. Camp, (quoted by P. ChandraSekharan in "Indian Journal of Forensic Sciences" Vol 5, April 1991, No. 2, p. 37) Forensic Science is used to predict not the future but the past. - Henry C. Lee (Reproduced in "Forensic Radiology" by B.G. Brogdon, at page 279) (N.B. The book goes on to say,"Nowhere in Forensic Radiology is Dr. Lee's provocative aphorism less applicable than in the field of abuse. Here lies the opportunity to go beyond the limits of the necropsy 'where death delights to help the living'.") Legal medicine has been described as the key to the past, the explanation to the present, and, in some measure, as a signpost to the future. - Professor J. Malcolm Cameron, in his Presidential address to the British Academy of Forensic Sciences, also published in "Medicine, Science and the Law" (1980), Vol 20, No. 1, in the paper entitled "The Medico-legal Expert - Past, Present and Future" page 3 There is only one path to the mastery of Forensic Medicine, and that is an extensive practical experience. - Harvey LittleJohn She's cold Her blood is settled and her joints are stiff, Life and these lips have long been separated, Death lies on her like an untimely frost, Upon the sweetest flower of all the field - William Shakespeare Most sudden deaths are of cardiac origin. - Fortunatus Fidelis (1598) It will never be possible to eliminate all chance of error or misjudgement, but the Forensic Science Service strives to do the greatest good for the greatest number, for the greatest part of time. - Professor Michael Green, University of Sheffield (quoted in "The Modern Sherlock Holmes- An Introduction to Forensic Science Today" by Judy Williams, at page 12) The science of Forensic Medicine turns the clock back. It relivens the dead. - R.D. Rikhari (Editor "Invention Intelligence". Sent on July 14, 2000. His original quote was "Your profession turns the clock back. It relivens the dead") Forensic medicine is like an illegitimate child of health and home departments. We belong to both, but none belong to us. We offer our services to both, we are answerable to both, but we receive nothing from either. I feel that it is high time that our paternity be ascertained and we be adopted by our rightful parentage. - Professor L. Fimate, President of the Indian Academy of Forensic Medicine (IAFM), in his inaugural speech on the occasion of XXII Annual Conference of The Indian Academy Of Forensic Medicine, Jaipur, India, 5 - 7 January 2001 Many people ask me why I chose Forensic Medicine as a career, and I tell them that it is because a forensic man gets the honor of being called when the top doctors have failed! - Anil Aggrawal, Professor of Forensic Medicine, Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi-110002, India There is no such thing as 'forensic science'; instead it is a collection of scientific techniques and principles that are begged and borrowed from 'real' sciences such as chemistry, biology, physics, medicine and mathematics. - A general saying by some experts (cited in the Introduction to "Encyclopedia of Forensic Sciences" edited by Jay A. Siegel, Pekka J. Saukko and Geoffrey C. Knupfer. 2000 Academic Press.) The 'sciences' of fingerprints, firearms and toolmarks and questioned documents are the only real forensic sciences; all the rest of it is on loan from the classical hard sciences. - Another general saying (cited in the Introduction of "Encyclopedia of Forensic Sciences" edited by Jay A. Siegel, Pekka J. Saukko and Geoffrey C. Knupfer. 2000 Academic Press.) It has always been a source of amazement to me, how a subject as inherently fascinating as Forensic Medicine, can be presented in a dull and uninteresting manner as is the case with some of the existing books on the subject. - Dr. V.V.Pillay, in the preface of the book "MKR Krishnan's Handbook of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology", Paras Publishing, 12th Edition, 2001 FORENSIC SCIENTISTS Francis Galton (Feb 16, 1822 - Jan 17, 1911) ~ General Francis Galton's arrival on Henry Fauld's stage was like the antihero's entrance in a tragically ending play. - Colin Beavan, in "Fingerprints - The origins of crime detection and the murder case that launched forensic science", Hyperion, New York, 2001, page 94 ~ His Criticism He was notorious for using his status against those with fewer advantages. - Colin Beavan, in "Fingerprints - The origins of crime detection and the murder case that launched forensic science", Hyperion, New York, 2001, page 94 Those who dared to oppose him learned that he was, by all accounts, that dangerous breed of dog who bites before even bothering to growl. - Colin Beavan, in "Fingerprints - The origins of crime detection and the murder case that launched forensic science", Hyperion, New York, 2001, page 94 GENERAL Satyameva Jayate (Truth alone triumphs) - An Old Sanskrit saying, very popular in India, often written on plaques in Judges’ rooms If you can't prove it, don't claim it. - Bernard Knight, (Quoted in Bernard Knight's “Forensic Pathology”, 2nd Edition, Preface) I keep six honest serving men (They taught me all I knew); Their names are What and Why and When And How and Where and Who - Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) Indian born British writer, in “Just so stories” (Cited in “Recent Advances in Forensic Pathology” edited by Francis E. Camps, J.& A. Churchill Ltd., 1969, on page 216, in Chapter 13 entitled "Medico-Legal aspects of Exotic Diseases") (N.B. The author at the end of this chapter stresses on Population explosion and advises the doctors to think in terms of global medicine. On page 221, he modifies Kipling’s quote like this: ..She keeps ten million serving men, Who get no rest at all! She sends ‘em abroad on her own affairs, From the second she opens her eyes- One million Hows, two million Wheres, And seven million Whys!) Truth is incontrovertible Panic may resent it Ignorance may deride it Malice may distort it But here it is. - Winston Churchill In a sense, the victim shapes and moulds the criminal. - Hans von Hentig "Excellent," I cried. "Elementary", said he. - Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930): ("The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes" (1894) 'The Crooked Man'. The oft quoted "Elementary, my dear Watson" is not found in any book by Conan Doyle) Seldom say never- seldom say always! - Forensic Proverb (Quoted in Bernard Knight's “Forensic Pathology”, 2nd Edition, at the Title page) In God we trust......All others are suspects - (Contributed by Signal45@aol.com who picked this quote from a homicide investigators school in Southern Louisiana) In Forensic Medicine, eye the most, hand the next and tongue the least. - (From the frontpage of a forensic medicine practical notebook prescribed for undergraduate students at the Department of Froensic Medicine, Al-Ameen Medical College, Bijapur, India) Well now; there’s a remedy for everything except death. - Sancho Panza in Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1615) (Quoted in "The Pathology of Trauma" 2nd Edition, Edited by J.K.Mason, page 30) He that digeth a pit shall fall into it. - Ecclesiastes 8 (Quoted in "The Pathology of Trauma" 2nd Edition, Edited by J.K.Mason, page 269) The problem isn’t with what we don’t know. The problem is with what we do know that isn’t so. - Will Rogers. (Quoted at the beginning of the article “Shaken Baby Syndrome and Death of Matthew Eappen” by John Plunkett, M.D., in The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology”, Vol 20, Number 1, March 1999 at page 17) You do the work in the daytime and cry at night! - Clyde Snow (1928- ), forensic anthropologist, on his philosophy of life I guess you can say law enforcement officials have come a long way since the days of Sherlock Holmes and his magnifying glass. - Northumberland County District Attorney Robert Sacavage, at the conclusion of the Robert Auker murder trial (Quoted in “Hard Evidence” By David Fisher at page 381) Dead Men tell tales! - The title of Juergen Thorwald’s book (Published by Thames and Hudson, London, 1965) Dead Men tell no tales! - LeMoyne Snyder in his book “Homicide Investigation”, (Third Edition, May 1977) Published by Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, Illinois, USA, on page 376, in chapter 20 entitled “Popular Fallacies in Homicide Investigation” (N.B. This interesting quote, although outwardly appearing as an antithesis to the quote preceding it, must be read in the proper context. Snyder follows up this interesting quote with the following qualifying remark: “How much they tell may be in direct proportion to the care, diligence and conscientious effort that the investigators and the laboratory technicians apply to the investigation. Sometimes the dead man actually becomes eloquent. As the science of homicide investigation advances, dead men will tell more and more.”) Dead Men do tell tales! - The title of William R. Maple’s (1937-1997), book (published by Doubleday, New York, 1994) (N.B. Quite appropriately, this quote sets the matter right once again, by reiterating the earlier quote! Thus the wheel seems to have turned one full circle.) Take nothing for granted because things are not always what they seem. - LeMoyne Snyder in his book “Homicide Investigation”, (Third Edition, May 1977) Published by Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, Illinois, USA, on page 141, in chapter 7 entitled “Homicide due to Gunshot Wounds” A medicolegist must avoid talking too much, talking too soon and talking to the wrong persons. - Anonymous Fools and Wise men are equally harmless. Dangerous are those who are half foolish and half wise, and only see half of everything.. - General saying (Cited in "Recent Advances in Forensic Pathology" edited by Francis E. Camps, J.& A. Churchill Ltd., 1969, on page 8, in Chapter 2 entitled “Thanatology”) A Corpus Delicti is not a corpse. - Title of chapter 6 (at page 177) in Herbert Leon Macdonell's book “The Evidence never lies", published by Dell Publishing, 1984 Life is like an autopsy -- one piece at a time. - Anonymous (I found the above interesting quote as an attachment from an E-mail I received from clemency@innocent.com ) One can not expect a quality investigation if the technical consultant is given inadequate time for preparation and analysis. - Genck 1987 (Quoted in “Tire Imprint Evidence” by Peter McDonald, 1989 Elsevier, page 185) The truth - the whole truth - and nothing but the truth. - General saying (Cited in "Recent Advances in Forensic Pathology" edited by Francis E. Camps, J.& A. Churchill Ltd., 1969, on page 1, in Chapter 1 entitled “General advances in Forensic Medicine”) HAIR The drug test is moving from the bathroom to the barber shop. - U.S. News and World Report (Quoted by Heather Pringle in her book “The Mummy Congress - Science, Obsession, and the Everlasting Dead”, Theia, New York, 2001, page 86) (N.B. A two-inch-long strand can tell almost five months of personal drug history, as almost all drugs of abuse find their way into hair. Urine test on the other hand can tell only a few days’ drug history. Hence it is much more useful to take samples from the barber’s shop (hair) than from bathroom (urine), especially for employers to screen applicants.) HANGING, JUDICIAL They hanged ‘em; I execute ‘em. - William Marwood (N.B. Marwood was the famous Lincolnshire executioner from 1875 till 1883. Before Marwood’s time, executioners simply allowed the victims to suspend from a rope till they asphyxiated slowly over a period of several minutes. For the first time in history Marwood introduced a long drop, breaking victim’s neck, killing him instantaneously, thus lessening his agony. (This quote appears in “The Book of Victorian Heroes” by Adam Hart-Davis and Paul Bader, Sutton Publishing 2001, at page 96) Question: “If pa killed ma, who’d kill pa?” Answer:”Marwood”. - a famous jingle about Marwood in his time. (From “The Book of Victorian Heroes” by Adam Hart-Davis and Paul Bader, Sutton Publishing2001, page 95) HYDROSTATIC TEST Hydrostatic test smatters of black magic and is a complete waste of time. - Bernard Knight (Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition 1996, page 442-3) Whatever its fallacies it was a welcome substitute for the torture which had preceded it in questions of alleged infanticide. - Professor J. Malcolm Cameron, in his Presidential address to the British Academy of Forensic Sciences, also published in "Medicine, Science and the Law" (1980), Vol 20, No. 1, in the paper entitled "The Medico-legal Expert - Past, Present and Future" page 5 IDENTIFICATION To write the history of identification is to write the history of criminology - Edmond Locard (1877-1966), French Criminologist INFANTICIDE Breathing is living; the onset of respiration is the beginning of life. - J. Barcroft The best way of seeking proof of respiration is to look at, to feel and to listen to the lungs. - Bernard Knight (Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition, page 442-3) (For related quotes, see also "Hydrostatic Test") INJURIES Antistius, the physian examined the dead body of Julius Caesar after he was murdered, and opined that only one of the twenty three wounds present on his body was mortal, namely that which had penetrated his chest between the first and second ribs. - (The first ever autopsy recorded in history, 44 B.C.) Meanwhile, I will keep on treating the injuries, not the weapon. - D. Lindsey (Quoted in "The Pathology of Trauma" 2nd Edition, Edited by J.K.Mason, page 86) Come, thick night,… that my keen knife see not the wound it makes. - Macbeth, Shakespeare (Quoted in "The Pathology of Trauma" 2nd Edition, Edited by J.K.Mason, page 97) INQUEST At an inquest, regard nothing as unimportant. A difference of a hair will be the difference of a thousand li. - Hsi Yuan Lu ("Instructions to Coroners" published in China in A.D. 1248) (N.B. Li is a Chinese Linear measure equivalent to about one third of a mile.) As a hunter traces the lair of a wounded deer by the drops of blood, even so the king shall discover on which side the right lies by inferences from the facts. - Manu Dharma Shastra (Ancient Hindu Law book written by Manu) Having searched the dead body, we find not any blows, or wounds, or any other bodily hurt. We find that bodily weakness caused by long fasting and weariness, by going to and fro, with the extreme cold of the season were the causes of his death. - First record of an inquest from the Colony of New Plymouth, New England, 1635 We must have the courage to know the causes of death. - Ramsey Clark, 1972 (Quoted in "The Autopsy-Medical Practice and Public Policy" by Rolla B. Hill and Robert E. Anderson; Butterworths 1988, page 107) There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance - that principle is contempt prior to investigation. - Herbert Spencer (Quoted in "The Pathology of Trauma" 2nd Edition, Edited by J.K.Mason, page 192) There is no such thing as a “born investigator”. - (Quoted in “Computer Evidence: A Forensic Investigations Handbook” by Edward Wilding, page 33, on the first page of chapter 3 entitled “A guide to Investigative methods”) INVESTIGATION OF CRIME Just as life depends on the equal functioning of the tripod of life i.e., heart, lung and brain, so also a successful investigation of crime depends on equal functioning of forensic medicine, forensic science and police investigation. - Professor L. Fimate, President of the Indian Academy of Forensic Medicine (IAFM), in his inaugural speech on the occasion of XXII Annual Conference of The Indian Academy Of Forensic Medicine, Jaipur, India, 5 - 7 January 2001 "I think we have a murderer on board". - Wireless message sent by Captain Henry Kendal of SS Montrose, to London, informing Walter Dew, Chief Inspector of the CID, Scotland Yard, London, that Dr. Crippen, who was suspected of having murdered his wife Cora Crippen, could be on board.) (N.B. A short note on this interesting quote would be in order. Dr. Crippen was an American who lived in London, where he murdered his wife at their house at 39 Hilldrop Crescent, Camden Town with an excessive dose of Hyoscine. He bought about 17 grains of hyoscine on 17 January 1910, and killed his wife in the early hours of 1 February. Shortly afterwards, along with his lover Ethel le Neve, he took the ship SS Montrose from Antwerp and tried to flee to Canada. However Captain Henry Kendal recognized him on board and sent the above message back to London. Dew boarded a faster ship and confronted the pair on the morning of 31 July 1910 (as the ship lay off the mouth of the St Lawrence river) with the words,” Good morning, Dr. Crippen” (which is yet another good quote!). Dr. Crippen was tried at the Old Bailey on 18 October, found guilty and hanged at Pentonville on 23 November 1910. This quote is important because Crippen was the first murderer to be caught using the newly discovered wireless technology. Marconi had received the Nobel Prize for wireless telegraphy only the previous year. The first UK demonstration of wireless telegraphy was in 1896, and when in 1996, wireless telegraphy completed 100 years, British Telecom celebrated the occasion by issuing six special BT phone cards. Number 3 of these cards celebrated Crippen’s arrest by showing Crippen’s photograph on the front, and the wireless message on the back. Surprisingly British Telecom got the date of this message wrong. According to the card, the message was sent in 1911, while actually it was 1910. In fact Crippen never lived to see the year 1911. Click below to see the front and back of this phone card.) Currently there are no entries under this heading. Readers' contributions are welcome. Currently there are no entries under this heading. Readers' contributions are welcome. LAW AND FORENSICS No man is above the law and no man is below it. - Theodore Roosevelt MASS DISASTERS With the exception of the more dramatic murders, the activity which focuses most public attention on the work of forensic pathologists is the mass disaster. - Bernard Knight (Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition, page 43) The (Mass Disaster) plans are clinically oriented, but often completely ignore provision for the dead. - Bernard Knight (Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition, page 43) MICROSCOPY Microscopes of hextra power. - Pickwick Papers (Cited in "Recent Advances in Forensic Pathology" edited by Francis E. Camps, J.& A. Churchill Ltd., 1969, on page 178, in Chapter 10 entitled “Microbiology and Parasitology”) MURDER Thou shalt not kill. - Old Testament, Exodus 20:13 Clarissa: Oh dear, I never realized what a terrible lot of explaining one has to do in a murder! - Agatha Christie (Spider's Web, 1956) ) Murder is a serious business. - Francis Iles 1893-1970, in “Malice Aforethought (1931) Other sins only speak; murder shrieks out. - Anne Hocking, British mystery writer (Death Loves a Shining Mark, 1943) For murder though it has no tongue, Will speak with the most miraculous organ. - William Shakespeare (Hamlet) Up the close and down the stair, But and ben with Burke and Hare, Burke's the butcher, Hare's the thief, Knox the boy that buys the beef. - A song commemorating murders by William Burke and William Hare in 1820's, who allegedly killed as many as 32 persons, to supply their bodies for dissection to the anatomist Dr. Robert Knox of Edinburgh. This song is still sung on macabre occasions in England today (quoted in "Almanac of World Crime" by Jay Robert Nash at page 271) Lizzie Borden took an axe, And gave her mother forty whacks, When she saw what she had done, She gave her father forty-one. - A song sung about Lizzie Borden, who allegedly killed her parents (father and step mother) at Fall River, Massachusetts on 4 August 1892, but was acquitted by the jury in June 1893 (quoted in "Almanac of World Crime" by Jay Robert Nash at page 194) You have borne up under all, Lizzie Borden, With a mighty show of gall, Lizze Borden, But because your nerve is stout, Does not prove beyond a doubt, That you knocked the old folks out, Lizzie Borden. - Another song sung about Lizzie Borden, this one giving her benefit of doubt: composed by A.L. Bixby (quoted in "Almanac of World Crime" by Jay Robert Nash at page 194) You can’t chop your poppa up in Massachusetts, Not even if it’s planned as a surprise No you can’t chop your poppa up in Massachusetts You know how neighbours love to criticize. - Yet another song sung about Lizzie Borden:. Composed by Michael Brown in “Lizzie Borden” (1952) Sometimes Playmates get killed. - Paul Snider (1980) to his friend shortly before killing his wife Dorothy Stratten, who had been Playboy’s Playmate of August 1979 (quoted in “Murder - Whereabouts” by J.H.H. Gaute and Robin Odell, page 82) NARCOTICS If you are smoking ganja, you first watch the curls of smoke. In other moment, you feel yourself crouched together in the bowl of your pipe smoked by yourself at the other end. - M. Baudelaire Cocaine isn't habit forming. I should know- I have been taking it for years. - Tallulah Bankhead (1903-1968), US stage and screen actress Thou hast the keys of Paradise, Oh, just, subtle and mighty Opium! - Thomas De Quincey (1785-1859): English essayist and critic "H" is for heaven: "H" is for hell: "H" is for heroin. In the life of the addict, these three meanings of "H" seem inextricably intertwined. - Isador Chein, 1964 (Reproduced in "Historical Medical Classics involving new drugs, by John C. Krantz, Jr. Ph.D. on page 121) That is the nectar, you call it a gum. Ah! The lean tree whence such gold oozings come. - R. Browning (Cited in "Recent Advances in Forensic Pathology" edited by Francis E. Camps, J.& A. Churchill Ltd., 1969, on page 204, in Chapter 12 entitled "Drugs of Dependence") NEGATIVE AUTOPSY A higher rate of negative conclusions will originate from older and more experienced pathologists than from juniors. - Bernard Knight (Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition, page 47) (N.B. Knight follows up this “ paradoxical quote” with this interesting statement: The younger pathologist is often uneasy about failing to provide a cause of death, feeling that it reflects upon his ability, whereas the more grizzled doctor, enjoying the security of tenure and equality with - or even seniority over - his clinical and legal colleagues, is less inhibited in his admissions of ignorance when the cause of death remains obscure. I have a different opinion - and experience - though ( I am bald, not grizzled however). Frequently when I fail to find a cause of death, with my students standing over my head, I feel very embarrassed, and tend to offer a cause of death, knowing it to be wrong. On the contrary a younger pathologist - certainly in my hospital - is very comfortable - even happy - in facing an obscure death. Because he has the facility of rushing to his senior colleagues and asking for their opinion. An added pleasure for him might be the possible confusion causing to the senior in the process! Readers' opinions on this subject are welcome. Currently there are no entries under this heading. Readers' contributions are welcome. PETECHIAL HEMORRHAGES La seule présence… de extravasations sanguines disséminées… suffit pour démontrer… que la suffication est bien, en réalité la cause de la morte. - Ambroise Tardieu, 1855 (The full citation of the paper in which he made this assertion is: Tardieu A. Ann Hyg Pub et de med Legale (series II) 1855;(6):371-82. This paper is quoted in the paper “Petechial Hemorrhages - A review of Pathogenesis” by Frederick A. Jaffe. American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology 15(3):203-207, 1994) Petechiae arise at the capillary level. - Frederick A. Jaffe, Forensic Pathology Branch, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (in his paper entitled “Petechial Hemorrhages - A review of Pathogenesis”. American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology 15(3):203-207, 1994. This quote appears on page 204, column 2, top line) A common error is to attribute the petechiae to the rupture of capillaries, whereas they actually emanate from small venules - capillary bleeding would be invisible to the naked eye. - Bernard Knight (Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition, 1996, page 348) (N.B. Note the contradiction between quotes 2 and 3 - both from contemporary books and journals. This is another important forensic controversy that is far from over. For other similar forensic controversies, see quotes on "Forensic Mythology" and "Hydrostatic Test". Interestingly, Bernard Knight, writing under the pseudonym of Bernard Picton in his book "Murder, Suicide or Accident - The Forensic Pathologist at Work", (Robert Hale & Company, London, 1971), has this to say on page 102: "The lining of the smallest blood vessels - the capillaries - is very sensitive to both increased pressure and oxygen lack. When these become deranged, the capillaries become fragile and burst at many points, causing small haemorrhages into the tissues, called 'petechiae'." One would tend to believe that while Knight changed his view between 1971 and 1996, others stuck to the traditional view.) PHILOSOPHICAL Sometimes life is like an autopsy - gutted & emptied. An autopsy reveals the cause of death; whereas, being gutted & emptied can reveal a new beginning in life. - Found as an attachment to the E-mail received from e. catherine on Fri, 22 Sep 2000 PHYSICAL EVIDENCE Physical evidence can not be intimidated. It does not forget. It sits there and waits to be detected, preserved, evaluated, and explained. - Herbert Leon Macdonell (Quoted at the opening page in his book “The Evidence never lies”) Physical evidence does not get excited, like people do. - Herbert Leon Macdonell (Quoted at the opening page in his book “The Evidence never lies”) Wherever he steps, whatever he touches, whatever he leaves even unconsciously, will serve as silent witness against him. Not only his fingerprints or his footprints, but his hair, the fibers from his clothes, the glass he breaks, the tool marks he leaves, the paint he scratches, the blood or semen he deposits or collects - all of these and more bear mute witness against him. This is evidence that does not forget. It is not confused by the excitement of the moment. It is not absent because human witnesses are. It cannot perjure itself. It cannot be wholly absent. Only its interpretation can err. Only human failure to find it, study and understand it, can diminish its value. - Crime Investigation, second edition, Paul L. Kirk (deceased), edited by John I. Thornton (1974), p. 2. (Quoted also in “Footwear Impression Evidence” by William J. Bodziak, at page 1) In the course of a trial, defense and prosecuting attorneys may lie, witnesses may lie, the defendant may certainly lie. Even the judge may lie. Only the evidence never lies! - Herbert Leon Macdonell (Quoted at the opening page in his book “The Evidence never lies”) Absence of Evidence is not the same as Evidence of Absence. - Howard Frumkin, M.D. Emory University School of Public Health, Chairmain, Dept: of Environmental & Occupational Health (Quoted in Jornal of Forensic Sciences, March 2000 at page 510) POISON, DEFINITION OF Poison is any substance, which introduced into the system, either directly or by absorption, produces violent, morbid or fatal changes, or which destroys living tissue with which it comes in contact. - Watkins v. National Elec. Products Corp., C.C.A. Pa., 165, F. 2d 980, 982 Poison: Any substance which, when relatively small amounts are ingested, inhaled, or absorbed, or applied to, injected to, or developed within the body, has chemical action that may cause damage to structure or disturbance of function producing symptomology, illness or death. - Stedman’s Medical Dictionary, 26th Edition, Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore MD, 1995 Poison: Any substance which, when ingested, inhaled or absorbed, or when applied to, injected into, or developed within the body, in relatively small amounts, by its chemical action may cause damage to structure or disturbance of function. - The Sloane-Dorland Annotated Medical-Legal Dictionary, West Publishing Company, New York, NY, 1987 Poison is any substance in relatively small quantities that can cause death or illness in living organisms by chemical action. The qualification “by chemical action”, is necessary because it rules out such effects as those produced by a small quantity of lead entering the body at high velocity. - Scientific American (N. B. It may be interesting to note that the usual fatal dose of a lead salt such as lead acetate is considered to be about 20 g. A lead bullet weighing 20 g can also kill a person, but in that case, the death would not be by chemical action, and thus lead in the second case, would not be supposed to kill as a poison!) POISONS AND TOXINS All substances are poisons. There is none, which is not. The right dose differentiates a poison and a remedy. - Paracelsus (1495-1541), Swiss physician and Chemist (N. B. There are several versions of this quote, which differ. This is understandable as this quote has been translated in English from a different language. The real quote in the original language is given in “Handbook of Pesticide Toxicology, Vol. 1 (Principles), page xxvii, 2nd Edition, Edited by Robert I. Krieger, (Academic Press, 2001)”. The quote -in German- goes like this, “Alle Ding sind Gift und nichts ohn Gift; alein die Dosis macht das ein Ding kein Gift ist”. Krieger in his Foreword goes on to say, “With the exception of E=mc2, perhaps no other single statement has wielded such force in establishing the popular notoriety and the professional stature of an individual in the history of science as the words just quoted”. This in itself appears a very fine quote to me!). Other similar quotes attributed to him are- What is there that is not poison. All things are poison and nothing (is) without poison. Solely the dose determines that a thing is not a poison.) --- Even nectar is poison if taken in excess. - Hindu Proverb (Quoted in “Encyclopedia of Clinical Toxicology” by Irving S. Rossoff, 2002, “The Parthenon Publishing Group”, a CRC Press Company, page vi) Give me a decent bottle of poison and I’ll construct the perfect Crime. - Agatha Christie (Quoted in “Dame Agatha’s poisonous pharmacopoeia”. The Pharmaceutical Journal. Dec 23 & 30, 1978, Page 573) Alcohol, Hashish, Prussic acid, strychnine are all weak dilutions; the surest poison is time. - Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882): American poet, essayist, philosopher The gnat that sings his summer song Poison gets from slander's tongue, The poison of the snake and newt Is the seat of envy's foot. The poison of the honey bee Is the artist's jealousy. - Blake, (Auguries of Innocence) There is no such thing as a safe drug - only safe doses. - C. Pippenger There are no safe drugs, only safe ways of using them. - Voltaire (quoted in “Introduction to Toxicology” 2nd Edition by J. A. Timbrell, 1995, Taylor & Francis Ltd, at page 61) The dose is the difference between the victim and the patient. - M. Gerald Plants are the most overrated poisons of childhood. - N.C. Fraser in “ Accidental poisoning deaths in British children 1958-77”. Br Med J 1980; 280: 1595-1598 (In a survey of deaths due to accidental poisoning in British children, out of 598 registered deaths over 20 years, Fraser found that only three were attributable to the ingestion of plant poisons!) Having sniffed the dead man’s lips, I detected a slightly sour smell, and I came to the conclusion that he had poison forced upon him. - Sherlock Holmes, in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “A Study in Scarlet” (Quoted in “Hard Evidence” By David Fisher at page 23) Poisons and medicines are oftentimes the same substance given with different intents. - Peter Mere Latham Passion (poison) often makes fools of clever men; sometimes even makes clever men of fools. - La Rochefoucauld I maintain that though you would often in the fifteenth century have heard the snobbish Roman say, in a would-be-off-hand tone, “I am dining with the Borgias tonight”, no Roman was ever able to say, “I dined last night with the Borgias.” - “And Even Now”, Max Beerbohm When you consider what a chance women have to poison their husbands, it’s a wonder there isn’t more of it done. - Kim Hubbard Most signs and symptoms associated with natural disease can be produced by some poison, and practically every sign and symptom observed in poisoning can be mimicked by those associated with natural diseases. - L. Adelson Poison is a chemical bomb. - John Harris Trestrail III, on page 30 of his book “Criminal Poisoning”, Humana Press, 2000 If you poison us, do we not die? - The Merchant of Venice. III.i.69 (quoted on the front page in “Curare -Its history and usage” by K. Bryn Thomas, Pitman Medical Publishing Co. Ltd. London, 1964. I found this book while leisurely scanning the S.M.S. Medical College library at Jaipur on 14 June 2001, when I had gone there as a post-graduate examiner) Poison is a silent weapon. - John Harris Trestrail III, on page 31 of his book “Criminal Poisoning”, Humana Press, 2000 Revolted by the odious crime of homicide, the chemist’s aim is to perfect the means of establishing proof of poisoning so that the heinous crime will be brought to light and proved to the magistrate who must punish the criminal. - “Traite de Poison”, M.J.B. Orfila (1814) MARTHA: “Well, dear, for a gallon of elderberry wine, I take one teaspoonful of arsenic, and add a half a teaspoonful of strychnine, and then just a pinch of cyanide. - “Arsenic and Old Lace” by Joseph Kasserling, New York Pocket Books, New York, NY, 1944 (quoted by John Harris Trestrail III in his book “Criminal Poisoning” on page 93. Also by Serita Deborah Stevens and Anne Klarner in their book “Deadly Doses - A writer’s guide to poisons”, Writer’s Digest Books, Ohio, 1990 on page 10) If all those buried in our cemeteries who were poisoned could raise their hand, we would probably be shocked by the numbers! - John Harris Trestrail III, in this book “Criminal Poisoning” on page 99 And yonder soft phial, the exquisite blue Sure to taste sweetly - is that poison too? - R. Browning (Cited in "Recent Advances in Forensic Pathology" edited by Francis E. Camps, J.& A. Churchill Ltd., 1969, on page 191, in Chapter 11 entitled "Forensic Chemistry") It would be nice if someday, like Star Trek’s Dr. McCoy, we could pass a “Tricorder” over the body in question and thereby scan for over a million different chemical entities. - John Harris Trestrail III, in this book “Criminal Poisoning” on page 71, stressing the fact that when an analytical result for toxicology comes negative, it does not necessarily mean that the specimen was free of all chemical substances. It only means that none of the substances tested for were present in detectable quantities. Every death with no visible signs of trauma must be considered a poisoning until the facts prove otherwise. - John Harris Trestrail III, in this book “Criminal Poisoning” on page 99 Doctors put drugs of which they know little, into our bodies of which they know less, to cure diseases of which they know nothing at all. - Voltaire (quoted in “Introduction to Toxicology” 2nd Edition by J. A. Timbrell, 1995, Taylor & Francis Ltd, at page 61) POISONS (INDIVIDUAL) ACETAMINOPHEN APAP - induced heart injury? May be yes, may be no. Next question? - Title of a paper by Martin J. Smilkstein in Clinical Toxicology, 34(2), 155-156 (1996) I have just taken Tylenol, will I die? - A frantic call made by several Americans in September - October 1982 to poison centres, following unfortunate deaths of 7 people, who took Tylenol Capsules, which all turned out to be laced with cyanide. Such a panic spread among the Americans that many reported that their toothpaste smelt oddly or their antacids tasted strangely. Many pharmacists described this reaction as “Tylenol Syndrome”. (Taken from “Dunea G. Death over the Counter. British Medical Journal, Vol, 286, 15 January 1983, pages 211-212”. This incident is also reported in “Forensic Pharmacology - Medicines, Mayhem, and Malpractice” by R.E. Ferner, Oxford University Press, 1996, at page 15) ARSENIC Arsenic was a popular homicidal poison; women purchased it with the ostensible excuse of destroying rats. The rat in this context was usually the husband! - Anonymous The history of arsenic poisoning is, at the same time, the history of murder by means of poisoning. - Leschke (quoted in “The Power of Poison” by John Glaister, Chritopher Johnson, London, 1954, page 78) ACONITE Aconite is useful to hunters for destroying tigers and elephants, useful to the rich for putting troublesome relatives out of the way, and useful to jealous husbands for destroying faithless wives. - saying common among Lepchas of Sikkim, India CHLOROFORM Now she's acquitted, she should tell us in the interests of science how she did it! - Sir James Piaget, a distinguished Victorian surgeon, exhorting Adelaide Bartlett, when she was acquitted, to tell how she killed her husband by giving him chloroform (quoted in "Murder - What dunit" by J.H.H. Gaute & Robin Odell, at page 93) DATURA Datura makes you hot as a hare, blind as a bat, dry as a bone, red as a beet and mad as a hen. - H.G. Morton And some of them ate plentifully of it, the effect of which was a very pleasant Comedy; for they turned natural Fools upon it for several Days. One would blow a Feather in the Air; another would dart straws at it with much fury; and another stark naked was sitting up in a Corner, like a Monkey grinning and making Mows at them; a Fourth would fondly kiss and paw his Companions, and sneer in their Faces with a Countenance more antik than any in a Dutch Droll. - Robert Beverly, describing the condition of some soldiers who accidentally ate Datura stramonium (Jimson weed) leaves in their salad. This description appears in the book “History and Present State of Virginia”, Book 2 (1705 A.D.), p 24 (N.B. This is one of the most widely quoted quotes on Datura stramonium by medical and lay authorities alike. It has appeared in (i) JAMA 1939; 112:2500-2 in a paper by JD Hughes and JA Clark Jr. (ii) Editorial, Lancet 1948;i:649-50 (iii) Clinical Toxicology by CJ Polson, MA Green, MR Lee, 3rd Edition, page 393 (iv)The Medical Detectives by Berton Roueché, Washington Square Press 1980, page 184) DDT I hate Bosco, It's full of DDT. Mommy put it in my milk to try to poison me. But I fooled Mommy, I put some in her tea. Now there's no more Mommy to try to poison me. - Children's rhyme (Quoted in "The New England Journal of Medicine" Volume 330:1095, April 14, 1994, Number 15, (in the Review of the book "The Poisonous Pen of Agatha Christie" By Michael C. Gerald. 275 pp. Austin, Tex., University of Texas Press, 1993. $32.50. ISBN 0-292-76535-5). Review by Orah S. Platt, M.D. and Richard Platt, M.D.,Children's Hospital Medical Center, Boston, MA 02215. Available on the net at http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/330/15/1095) HELLEBORE Besides, hellebore is rank poison to us, but given to goats and quails makes them fat. - Lucretius: “De Rerum Natura” Book 4, lines 640-641, Translated by W.H.D. Rouse (This quote appears in “Handbook of Pesticide Toxicology, Vol. 1 (Principles), page 109, 2nd Edition, Edited by Robert I. Krieger, (Academic Press, 2001)” HYOSCINE ‘.. .Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole, With juice of cursed hebenon in a vial, And in the porches of mine ears did pour The leprous distilment.. .’ - Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 5 (Quoted in “The Encyclopedia of Forensic Science” by Brian Lane, Headline 1992, at page 375 MERCURY Mercury is ‘the hottest, the coldest, a true healer, a wicked murderer, a precious medicine, and a deadly poison, a friend that can flatter and lie’. - Woodall J. (1639), The Surgeon’s Mate or Military & Domestic Surgery, London, p256 (quoted from Cassarett and Doull’s Toxicology. Also quoted in “Introduction to Toxicology” 2nd Edition by J. A. Timbrell, 1995, Taylor & Francis Ltd, at page 118) MUSHROOMS There are old Mushroom Hunters and Bold Mushroom Hunters, but no Old Bold Mushroom Hunters. - Anonymous Had nature any outcast face? Could she a son condemn? Had nature an Iscariot That mushroom - it is him - Emily Dickinson (Quoted in “Wilderness Medicine”, 4th edition, by Paul S. Auerbach, Mosby, 2001; chapter 49 entitled “Mushroom Toxicity” by Sandra Schneider and Mark Donnelly, page 1141) PHOSPHORUS Keep any cakes and sandwiches over, for the funeral. - Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Wilson of Durham, who poisoned her two husbands with phophorus, jokingly at her wedding feast in 1958 (Quoted in “The Bedside Book of Murder” by Richard & Molly Whittington-Egan, at page 81) STRYCHNINE We’ll murder them all amid laughter and merriment, Except for a few we’ll take home to experiment. My pulse will be quickenin’ with each drop of strychnine we feed to a pigeon. (It just takes a smidgin!) To poison a pigeon in the park. - Tom Lehrer (1928- ): in “Poisoning Pigeons in the Park” (1953) TOADS (POISONOUS) Toad, that under cold stone, Days and nights went thirty-one, Swelter’d venom sleeping got, - Shakespeare alluding to the evil reputation of the toad in Macbeth (Reproduced from “Poisons and Poisoners” by C.J.S. Thompson, page 103) POLICE AND POLICING The more technical knowledge a police officer possesses, the greater the probability of securing not only a criminal arrest but also a guilty verdict from the jury. - Howell 1988 (Quoted in “Tire Imprint Evidence” by Peter McDonald, 1989 Elsevier, page 189) The police are the public and the public are the police. - Sir Robert Peel (Quoted in “Criminal Investigation - Basic Perspectives” by Paul B. Weston, Charles Lushbaugh and Kenneth M. Wells, eighth edition, 2000, Prentice Hall, page 396) You become a cop so you can watch the parade from the front. Detective is even better because you don’t have to be in uniform to watch the parade. - Detective Captain Frank Bolz (quoted in “Cop Talk” by E.W.Count, Pocket Books, 1994. The quote appears at the beginning of the book) POST MORTEM CHANGES PUTREFACTION The process of putrefaction is simple in its complexity and complex in its simplicity, resting upon the variables operating in a particular case. - Dr. Krishan Vij, Professor and Head, Department of Forensic Medicine, Government Medical College, Chandigarh, India, in his book “Textbook of Forensic Medicine - Principles and Practice”, B.I. Churchill Livingstone, 2001, page 186 QUESTIONED DOCUMENTS It is a compliment to monetary stability when currency is forged. - Jay Levinson in his book “Questioned Documents - A Lawyer’s Handbook”, Academic Press 2001, page 165 It is competent for a judge and jury to compare the handwriting of a disputed document. - A Canadian Court in 1918, in the case Rohoel v. Darwish, 1 WWR 627; 13 Altn LR 180 (Quoted by Jay Levinson in his book “Questioned Documents - A Lawyer’s Handbook”, Academic Press 2001, page 1) No matter how extensive his background may be, no document examiner can know all the answers to all the questions. - Jay Levinson in his book “Questioned Documents - A Lawyer’s Handbook”, Academic Press 2001, page 24 “Handwriting” is not hand writing. - Ron N. Morris in his book “Forensic Handwriting Identification: Fundamental concepts and principles”, Academic Press 2000, page 1 (N.B. To those who find this interesting little quote confounding, the following lines from the same page may be quoted. Morris follows up this quote with this: There are a substantial number of people who are not able to use their hand so they write with their foot, mouth etc. Writing is actually a brain function and the hand, foot, mouth etc are merely the devices which carry out brain orders.) ROAD SIDE VEHICULAR ACCIDENTS There are only two classes of pedestrians these days - the quick and the dead. - Lord Dewar (1864-1930) (Quoted in “The Pathology of Trauma” 2nd Edition, Edited by J.K.Mason, page 17) Drive slowly, reach safely, And not race with the devil, To reach the tomb prematurely. - S.C. Mestri (Professor and Head, Dept. of Forensic Medicine, KIMS, Hubli-580022, India), in “Preventive and safety measures to be adopted in road traffic accidents”, Journal of Karnataka Medicolegal Society; 9(2): December 2000, pages 28-30 (this quote appears on page 30) I wasn’t the driver. - Statement often made by occupants of an automobile which has been involved in a fatal collision. (cited on page 24 of “Encyclopedia of Forensic Sciences” edited by Jay A. Siegel, Pekka J. Saukko and Geoffrey C. Knupfer. 2000 Academic Press.) SCENE OF CRIME “Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which the body had been found, and indeed, so moist was the ground, that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the fall of the stricken man. To Holmes, as I could see by his eager face and peering eyes, very many other things were to be read upon the trampled grass.” - Dr. Watson, the companion of the Legendary Sherlock Holmes in “The Boscombe Valley Mystery” by Arthur Conan Doyle Scenes as well as suspects often conceal the truth. - Jon J. Nordby, forensic science investigative consultant, in his book “Dead Reckoning - The Art of Forensic Detection”, CRC Press 2000, on page 23 SERIAL KILLERS They are the waste product of our frustrated, bored, over-stressed Western industrialized society. - Sean Mactire in his book “Malicious Intent-A writer’s guide to how murderers, robbers, rapists and other criminals think”. Writer’s Digest Books, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1995. This quote appears in on page 67, in 5th chapter entitled “Serial Murder”) SEXUAL OFFENCES No man shall have sexual intercourse with any woman against her will. - Charaka Samhita (Book of Medicine written in the 4rth Century B.C. by the Ancient Hindu writer Charaka) In no state can a man be accused of raping his wife. How can any man steal what already belongs to him? - Susan Griffin, American Poet (Ramparts, September 1971) … marriage [is] in modern times regarded as a partnership of equals and no longer one in which the wife [is] the subservient chattel of the husband. - Lord Keith in Regina v R. 23 October 1991 (Quoted in "The Pathology of Trauma" 2nd Edition, Edited by J.K.Mason, page 138) Rape is the only crime in which the victim becomes the accused and, in reality, it is she who must prove her good reputation, her mental soundness, and her impeccable propriety. - Freda Adler, American Educator (Sisters in Crime, 1975) Insertion or thrust of male organ between the thighs kept tight amounts to penetration sufficient to constitute rape. - In the Indian case of State v Gobindan, 1969 Cr LJ 818 Rape is an accusation easily to be made and hard to be proved and yet harder to be defended by the party concerned though never so innocent. - Khelleher v Queen, 1974 (131) Commonwealth Law Reporter 534 The act of actus reus is complete with penetration and emission is not essential or relevant. - Queen v Marsden, 1821 QBD 149 If his bones in general, and his shoulders are strongly made, if his gait and voice are vigorous, by these tokens may a potent man be known; and one impotent by the opposite characteristics. - Narada Smriti (Ancient Hindu text) There is no difference between being raped and being bit on the ankle by a rattlesnake except that people ask if your skirt was short and why you were out alone anyhow. - (Mary Piercy, excerpt from 'Rape Poem': Reproduced in "Clinical Approaches to sex offenders and their victims" edited by Clive R. Hollin and Kevin Howells, at page 261 The worst myth that has to be busted is that rape and sex crimes are about sex. They are only about power and anger. - Sean Mactire in his book “Malicious Intent-A writer’s guide to how murderers, robbers, rapists and other criminals think”. Writer’s Digest Books, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1995. This quote appears in on page 94, in 7th chapter entitled “Sexual predators”) Not enough people understand what rape is, and, until they do.. .., not enough will be done to stop it. - rape victim (quoted in “Men Who Rape” by N. Groth 1979, Plenum p.87, also quoted in “A Natural History of Rape” by Randy Thornhill and Craig T. Palmer, 2000, MIT Press, on page 1) SUDDEN DEATH The fact that an AV or SA node, or the bundle of His or its branches shows fibrosis or some other lesion, does not necessarily mean that this played any part in the death. - Bernard Knight (Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition, page 498) SUDDEN INFANT DEATH SYNDROME (SIDS) ..there has developed a “maxim in Forensic pathology: one unexplained infant death in a family is SIDS. Two is very suspicious. Three is homicide.” This is dangerous and scientifically shaky dogma. - (Cyril H. Wecht, MD, JD , Coroner of Allegheny County , Pittsburgh, in JAMA Jan 7, 1996, Vol. 279, No. 1, page 85) (N.B. A little background above the above quote may be appreciated. This above maxim developed following Van Der Sluys case in 1986, Tinning case in 1987 and Wanda Hoyt case in 1995, each of which involved three dead infants. Wanda Hoyt was convicted of murder in 1995) Elevated T3 levels in SIDS can be considered as a post-mortem artifact. - J.I.Coe (in “Postmortem chemistry update. Emphasis on Forensic Application". Am. J. Forensic Med Pathol, 1993, 14, 91-117; cited in “de Letter EA, Piette MHA, Lambert WE, De Leenheer AP. Medico-Legal Implications of Hidden Thyroid Dysfunction: A study of two cases. Med. Sci. Law (2000)Vol. 40, No. 3, Pp 251-257, on page 255) SIDS is perhaps the greatest single medical mystery confronting scientists. - (Cyril H. Wecht, MD, JD , Coroner of Allegheny County , Pittsburgh, in JAMA Jan 7, 1996, Vol. 279, No. 1, page 86) SUICIDE If one wants to get away with murder, one has to jolly well keep one’s wits about one. It’s the same way with suicide. - Starr Faithful (1931) (quoted in “Murder - Whereabouts” by J.H.H. Gaute and Robin Odell, page 78) Every homicide is also unconsciously a suicide and every suicide in a sense a psychological homicide. - Stephen Nordlicht, MD, Clinical Associate Professor in Psychiatry, Cornell University Medical College, in his paper entitled “Medical Deterrents” published in Bull. N.Y.Acad. Med. Vol. 62, No. 5, June 1986. This quote appears on page 584 TERRORISM “Terrorism” means the use of violence for political ends, and includes any use of violence for the purpose of putting the public or any section of the public in fear. - Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1989, s.20(1) (Quoted in "The Pathology of Trauma" 2nd Edition, Edited by J.K.Mason, page 71) THROMBOSIS, DEEP VEIN Deep vein thrombosis is a hazard of long air flights. - Bernard Knight (Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition, page 507) TIME SINCE DEATH Estimating the time of death is one of the most difficult and inaccurate techniques in forensic pathology. - Milton Helpern in his book “Autopsy - The Memoirs of Milton Helpern, the World’s greatest medical detective”, published by St. Martin’s Press, New York, 1977, on page 116 The time of death is sometimes extremely important. It is a question almost invariably asked by police officers, sometimes with a touching faith in the accuracy of the estimate. Determining the time of death is extremely difficult, and accuracy is impossible. - Bernard Knight, Legal Aspects of Medical Practice, 4th edition, 1987, Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh page 115 I will be the first to admit that if any physical or even mental disturbance occurs soon after the food is swallowed, the whole digestive process can be drastically altered. - Milton Helpern in his book “Autopsy - The Memoirs of Milton Helpern, the World’s greatest medical detective”, published by St. Martin’s Press, New York, 1977, on page 118 Considering the variables which influence the rate of body heat loss, the best one can say about the reliability of algor mortis as a post mortem clock is that it permits a rough approximation of the time of death. Errors in over-estimating and under-estimating the post mortem interval based on body cooling are common, even in the face of considerable experience by those making the estimate. Body temperature as an indicator of the post mortem interval should be correlated with all other phenomenon and observations utilised in establishing the time of death. - Adelson, The Pathology of Homicide, 1974, Thomas, Springfield, Illinois, page 164 To offer an unreasonably accurate time of death is worse than providing such a wide range on times that the police derive no help from it. - Bernard Knight in “The Estimation of the Time Since Death in the Early Postmortem Period”, Edward Arnold, 1995, page 2 A medical witness who attempts to determine the time of death from temperature estimation in minutes or fractions of hours is exposing himself to a severe challenge to his expertise which may well amount to near ridicule, thus denegrating the rest of his evidence. - Polson, Gee and Knight, The Essentials of Forensic Medicine, 4th edition, 1985, Pergamon Press, Oxford, page 12 It is often the least experienced medical witness who tends to offer the most accurate estimate of time since death. - Bernard Knight in “The Estimation of the Time Since Death in the Early Postmortem Period”, Edward Arnold, 1995, page 2 Livor mortis, rigor mortis and algor mortis … provide, at best, “postmortem windows”. - Stephen J. Cina, Charleston County Medical Examiner’s Office, Charleston, SC 29425, USA (Quoted by him in his paper “Flow Cytometric Evaluation of DNA Degradation: A predictor of Postmortem Interval?”. American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology 15(4):300-302, 1994) The opinion of any doctor who offers a single time of death, instead of a range, must be viewed with suspicion. - Bernard Knight in “The Estimation of the Time Since Death in the Early Postmortem Period”, Edward Arnold, 1995, page 2 No problem in forensic medicine has been investigated as thoroughly as that of determining the time of death on the basis of post mortem findings. Apart from its obvious legal importance, its solution has been so elusive as to provide a constant intellectual challenge to workers in many sciences. In spite of the great effort and ingenuity expended, the results have been meagre - Jaffe, A Guide to Pathological Evidence : For Lawyers and Police Officers, 2nd edition, 1983, Carswell Criminal Law Series, Carswell Ltd., Toronto, page 33 Repeated experience teaches the investigator to be wary of relying on any single observation for estimating the time of death (or "duration of the post mortem interval"), and he wisely avoids making dogmatic statements based on an isolated observation. - Adelson, The Pathology of Homicide, 1974, Thomas, Springfield, Illinois, page 151 Formerly, it was a hallowed "rule of thumb" that the rectal temperature dropped at an average of 1.5oF per hour, rather faster during the first few hours. This method was a guarantee of inaccuracy, but little has been found to replace it. - Bernard Knight, Legal Aspects of Medical Practice, 4th edition, 1987, Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh, page 119-120 Some difference of opinion exists over the use of a thermometer at the scene of a suspicious death. Considerable caution must be employed when considering the taking of a rectal temperature with the body in situ. If there is any possibility at all of some sexual interference, whether homosexual or heterosexual, no intereference with the clothing or perineum must be made until all forensic examinations have been completed. Certainly, no instrument should be inserted into the rectum before trace evidence has been sought. - Polson, Gee and Knight, The Essentials of Forensic Medicine, 4th edition, 1985, Pergamon Press, Oxford, page 9-10 The timing of the sequence of events concerned in the dissolution of the body cannot be done with accuracy and one must be cautious never to pronounce too readily that the decomposed state of the body is inconsistent with the time interval alleged. - Camps, Lucas, Robinson, Gradwohl's Legal Medicine, 3rd edition, 1976, John Wright & Sons, Bristol, page 91 TIRE IMPRINT EVIDENCE I am familiar with forty-two different impressions left by tyres. - Sherlock Holmes to Dr. Watson in “The Adventure of the Priory School” 1901 A motor vehicle is used in 75 percent of all the major crimes reported today. - Given, Nehrich and Shields 1977 (Quoted in “Tire Imprint Evidence” by Peter McDonald, 1989 Elsevier, page 37) The ultimate goal of the tire track investigation is the identification of the vehicle producing the track. - Given, Nehrich and Shields 1977 (Quoted in “Tire Imprint Evidence” by Peter McDonald, 1989 Elsevier, page 67) Tire “Footprints” help solve Homicide cases (Title of article in Law and Order 1981) - Quoted in “Tire Imprint Evidence” by Peter McDonald, 1989 Elsevier, page 111 TONGUES OF SLIP “They told me you could help me, Dr. Zak… the people at the Funny Society.. .er.. . I mean the Forensic Society". - A patient (Henry Nash) over phone to forensic entomologist Zakaria Erzinçlioglu (quoted by Zakaria Erzinçlioglu in his biographical book “Maggots, Murder and Men - Memories and Reflections of a Forensic Entomologist” Harley Books, England 2000, on page 138) TRACE EVIDENCE Every contact leaves a trace. - Edmond Locard (1877-1966), Pioneering French Criminologist (This is often touted as the “Locard’s Exchange Principle”. Although nothing is wrong in this statement, the true principle goes like this: “The dust and debris that cover our clothing and bodies are the mute witnesses, sure and faithful, of all our movements and all our encounters.” It is quoted on page 299 of “Encyclopedia of Forensic Sciences” edited by Jay A. Siegel, Pekka J. Saukko and Geoffrey C. Knupfer. 2000 Academic Press.) For a long time he remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, gathering what seemed to me to be dust into an envelop and examining with his lens not only the ground, but even the bark of the tree as far as he could reach. - Dr. Watson recalling the actions of Sherlock Holmes in “The Boscombe Valley Mystery” If evidence has been properly gathered and preserved, a mistake in interpretation may always be corrected. If the facts required for a correct interpretation are not preserved, the mistake is irreversible. - Alan R. Moritz, MD (Quoted in "The Pathology of Trauma" 2nd Edition, Edited by J.K.Mason, page 227) What is not looked for will not be found! - William J. Bodziak in his book “Footwear Impression Evidence” at page 2 The best evidence in the world will not stand up in court if the jurors have doubts about its integrity. - Los Angeles Times (Quoted in “Criminal Investigation - Basic Perspectives” by Paul B. Weston, Charles Lushbaugh and Kenneth M. Wells, eighth edition, 2000, Prentice Hall, page 6) Trace evidence is one of the most valuable, misunderstood, misused and underutilised forms of physical evidence. - Peter R. De Forest in his chapter "What is trace evidence" in the book "Forensic Examination of Glass and Paint" edited by Brian Caddy, Taylor & Francis, 2001, page 23 Currently there are no entries under this heading. Readers' contributions are welcome. Currently there are no entries under this heading. Readers' contributions are welcome. WITTICISMS Well folks, you’ll soon see a baked Appel. - George Appel, as he was being strapped into the electric chair in 1952 (Quoted in “Witticisms of 7 condemned criminals” on page 87 in “The Book of Lists #3” by Amy Wallace, David Wallechinsky and Irving Wallace) Nothing will happen until I get there. - Guy Clark (1832) on the way to gallows to the sheriff, when he asked him to speed up the pace (Quoted in “Witticisms of 7 condemned criminals” on page 87 in “The Book of Lists #3” by Amy Wallace, David Wallechinsky and Irving Wallace) You work in forensics and you don't know what FUBAR means???? - Contributed by James (Jamie) Crippin , Colorado Bureau of Inv., 3416 N Elizabeth St., Pueblo, CO 81008. Phone: 719-542-1133 (N.B. Anyone, who wants to know more about this interesting quote, or wants to know what FUBAR means, may want to get with touch with Mr. Crippin himself. He can be contacted by clicking on his name) When in doubt, think dirty. You’ll be right ninety percent of the time. - An old pathologist to Dr. William R. Maples (N.B. Dr. William R. Maples gives this quote in his book “Dead Men do tell tales” at page 11. Dr. Maples goes on to say, that it was good advice and that he put it to good use on many occasions.) Better save that. We'll need it for the autopsy. - A surgeons’ conversation overheard during a life saving surgery - sent by Dr. Vivek Jain, MD (Skin & VD) Forensic medicine in most of the countries is some kind of an unwanted Cinderella. - Dr. Peter Kovac, Institute of Forensic Medicine, Comenius University, Bratislava, Sasinkova 4, 81103 Slovakia (In an informal E-mail sent to this webmaster on 23 November 2000) To treat is human, to dissect divine. - This is the answer I frequently give to people who ask me why I left a lucrative career in medicine (way back in 1979) to take up forensic pathology Those who can, dissect; those who can’t, dissent. - Another perfectly valid answer to the same question, although I don’t remember having said this to anyone WOUNDS INCISED Incise the abdomen and conceal the jewel. - An old Chinese Proverb (Quoted in “Forensic Science”, 2(1973) 191-199 at page 191) PENETRATING Makes such a wound the knife is lost in it. - Shelley (Cited in "Recent Advances in Forensic Pathology" edited by Francis E. Camps, J.& A. Churchill Ltd., 1969, on page 101, in Chapter 6 entitled "The interpretation of wounds (Penetrating)") Currently there are no entries under this heading. Readers' contributions are welcome. Currently there are no entries under this heading. Readers' contributions are welcome. Currently there are no entries under this heading. Readers' contributions are welcome. Know a forensic quote which does not appear here? Well why not share it with us, and add to this growing pool of forensic quotes. Your contribution would appear with due credit to you. For submitting your quote, mail me. Contact

Forensic Science Fiction

Forensic Toxicology THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE JUNE 2000 ISSUE THE POISON SLEUTHS DEATH BY FLUORINE -Dr. Anil Aggrawal "Good morning doctor. Oh, my God, what are you doing today? You have the dead body of a young man today. What happened to him? Please tell me.” “Good morning Tarun. The name of this person is Ramlal and he was 26 years old. He was found dead in his room today morning. When the milkman came to deliver the milk in the morning today, Ramlal did not open the door, and he got suspicious. This was especially because Kalu, his neighbor had threatened to kill him several times.” “Who is Kalu doctor, and why did he want to kill Ramlal?” “Tarun, Kalu is a 35 year old person, who lives in the neighborhood. Kalu thought that Ramlal used to meet his wife furtively, although all the other neighbors sincerely believed that this was not the case. Many times, they even told Kalu that he was mistaken, but he did not believe anyone. Many a time, Kalu has even threatened to kill Ramlal, if he did not stop meeting his wife. Let me tell you that Kalu works in a chemical factory making all sorts of chemicals. He is a reasonably good chemist and knows a lot about various chemicals.” “So what happened when the milkman came?” “Yes, I was telling you about the events occurring in the morning today. When Ramlal did not open the door, milkman enquired from the neighbors if he had gone out for a few days, and he was informed that Ramlal was very much in town. In fact one person told, that he had seen Ramlal with Kalu only the previous night. As Ramlal always got up late, there was no question of his having got up early and going out for a walk or something. Everybody got suspicious. They called the police. When the door was forced open, everyone was stunned to see Ramlal lying dead on his cot. Everyone noticed a faint smell coming from the room, but they could not identify that smell. They said that they had never smelt anything like that.” “Perhaps Ramlal was not keeping his room tidy and hence the smell” “It was not that kind of smell. At least that is what has been informed to me by the neighbors.” “Doctor, how do you think Ramlal died?” “Tarun, this is a case which even defeated me for several hours. Since he was not admitted to a hospital, I did not have a hospital report to fall back upon. You might have noticed that many times, hospital records, such as initial symptoms etc give away the cause of death. If a poison has been administered to the individual, we can immediately know about that poison from the symptoms encountered. But in this case, there was no hospital report, and I had to rely solely on my postmortem findings. To make matters worse, there were no significant postmortem findings. The only findings which deserve mention are a reddening of his eyes, and of the mucus membranes of his respiratory tract, such as those of nose and windpipe. His lungs were very much congested with blood. His stomach showed lot of alcohol. It appears he had been drinking alcohol before his death.” “Perhaps he died by consuming too much liquor?” “I have done his blood alcohol levels. A blood alcohol level of around 600 mg% is necessary to kill a human being. But in his case, the blood level was just about 150 mg%, enough to produce a mild sensation of well-being, but not death. We enquired the neighbor - a person called Shamu - who claims having seem him with Kalu the day before. Shamu told that Kalu came to Ramlal’s house at about 9 pm the previous night. He had a big bag in his hand. Shamu knew it because at that time he was just returning to his house from his evening walk. When Shamu asked what he was doing there, initially Kalu looked nonplussed but very soon, he regained his composure. He told that that he wanted to bury the hatchet with Ramlal, and was going to his house to have a friendship drink. He even opened the bag and showed him a bottle of Rum which he had with him.” “Then how are you going to find out how he died?” “Tarun. I had just three abnormal and suspicious looking pieces in the whole story. One that Kalu his neighbor who was his enemy, showed a suspicious behavior the previous night, and two that Kalu works in a chemical factory. Add to this the third factor that the neighbors noticed some strange smell coming out from the house when they opened the door, and my mind immediately turned towards some poisonous gas as the possible killing agent. Still I was in the dark because there are so many gases which can kill a person. I had no way but to perform a chemical test on his lungs, and guess what I found - fluorine! Ramlal has died because of fluorine” “Come on doctor. We have never heard of a person dying from fluorine. He must have died some other way.” “Tarun, I am very sure Ramlal died of fluorine. In fact the circumstances which Kalu created were perfect for a killing with fluorine. He first made Ramlal tipsy with alcohol and then released fluorine which he had brought with him in his bag. He had this gas in a pressurized container, which the police has seized from a half opened almirah. Of course they would never have looked for it, had I not told them about it. I went to Ramlal’s house and did some tests on the air in his room. Although much of the fluorine had diffused out of Ramlal’s room, yet I could demonstrate a significant amount of fluorine in his room.” “Doctor, it appears we are on to some other good of your stories. Please tell me something about fluorine first, so I can follow you better.” “Tarun, fluorine (F), is the most reactive chemical element, and the lightest member of the halogen elements, or Group VIIa of the periodic table. Its atomic number is 9, atomic weight 18.9984, melting point -219.62° C (-363.32° F), boiling point -188° C (-306° F), and density at 1 atm, and 0° C about 1.696 g/litre. Under ordinary conditions fluorine is a gas a little heavier than air, with a pale yellow colour; inhalation except in very low concentrations is dangerous. Upon cooling, fluorine becomes a yellow liquid. Fluorine occurs combined in the widely distributed mineral fluorite ( calcium fluoride, fluorspar), its chief source, in the minerals cryolite and fluorapatite, and in small amounts in seawater, bones, and teeth. Not a rare element, it makes up about 0.065 percent of the Earth's crust. Only one isotope occurs in nature, stable fluorine-19. Let me tell you that Fluorine is difficult to isolate from its compounds, and in fact it is impossible to free it by chemical means. No other element is powerful enough, as an oxidizing agent, to replace it.” “Doctor since when do we know about fluorine?” “Tarun, the French chemist Henri Moissan first isolated fluorine in 1886 by electrolysis of anhydrous hydrogen fluoride (HF), in which potassium hydrogen fluoride (KHF2) had been dissolved to make it conduct a current. Elemental fluorine of high purity is prepared commercially by Moissan's procedure. The elemental gas is used as an oxidizer in rocket fuels and to prepare fluorides. Fluorine, composed of two-atom molecules (F2), is so reactive that it combines with all other elements except helium, neon, and argon to form ionic or covalent fluorides. Its chemical activity can be attributed to its extreme ability to attract electrons (in fact, it is the most electronegative element) and to the small size of its atoms. The oxidation state of -1 is the only one observed in fluorine compounds. Because of the small size of the fluoride ion (F-), it forms many stable complexes with positive ions; for example, hexafluorosilicate(IV) (SiF62-) and hexafluoroaluminate(III) (AlF63-). One of the principal industrial compounds of fluorine is hydrogen fluoride, obtained by treating fluorite with sulfuric acid. It is employed in the preparation of numerous inorganic and organic fluorine compounds of commercial importance, e.g., sodium aluminum fluoride (Na3AlF6), used as an electrolyte in the electrolytic smelting of aluminum metal; and uranium hexafluoride (UF6), utilized in the gaseous diffusion process of separating uranium-235 from uranium-238 for reactor fuel. A solution of hydrogen fluoride gas in water is called hydrofluoric acid, large quantities of which are consumed in industry for cleaning metals and for polishing, frosting, and etching glass. Boron trifluoride (BF3) and antimony trifluoride (SbF3), like hydrogen fluoride, are important catalysts for organic reactions; cobalt trifluoride (CoF3) and chlorine trifluoride (ClF3) are useful fluorinating agents; and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) is used as a gaseous electrical insulator. Sodium fluoride (NaF) is used to treat dental caries and is often added in small amounts to fluoride-deficient water supplies (fluoridation) to reduce tooth decay. Elemental fluorine, often diluted with nitrogen, reacts with hydrocarbons to form corresponding fluorocarbons in which some or all hydrogen has been replaced by fluorine. The resulting compounds are usually characterized by great stability, chemical inertness, high electrical resistance, and other valuable physical and chemical properties. This fluorination may be accomplished also by treating organic compounds with cobaltic fluoride or by electrolyzing their solutions in anhydrous hydrogen fluoride. Useful plastics with non-sticking qualities, such as polytetrafluoroethylene ([CF2CF2)x]; known by the commercial name Teflon), are readily made from unsaturated fluorocarbons. Organic compounds containing chlorine, bromine, or iodine are fluorinated to produce compounds such as dichlorodifluoromethane (Cl2CF2), the coolant used in most household refrigerators and air conditioners." “Doctor, what is the color of this gas? And how does it smell?” “Fluorine is a yellow gas that does not occur free in nature because of its great reactivity. Before World War II it was generated only in gram quantities, but the need for stable fluorocarbons in the atomic energy program stimulated the chemical industry to devise electrolyte cells for the preparation of elemental fluorine. The present availability of the compressed gas in nickel or steel cylinders has led to its use for the preparation of a host of new organic fluorine compounds, many of them of commercial value. The gas can be liquefied at low temperatures. Its odor differs from that of chlorine. It is rather difficult to describe, but it can be compared to that of relatively concentrated ozone. It can be piped through standard steel pipe or copper tubing equipped with Monel metal…” “Sorry to disturb you doctor, but what is Monel metal?” “Tarun, fluorine is a very reactive gas, and thus it can only be piped through certain very resistant metals. Monel is any of a group of nickel-copper alloys, first developed in 1905, containing about 66 percent nickel and 31.5 percent copper, with small amounts of iron, manganese, carbon, and silicon. Stronger than pure nickel, Monel alloys are resistant to corrosion by many agents, including fluorine and rapidly flowing seawater, both of which can be very very corrosive to metals. They can be fabricated readily by hot- and cold-working, machining, and welding. Monel is a registered trademark of the International Nickel Company. So I was telling you, how the gas can be piped. Well, it can be piped also through nickel valves with Teflon packing. With metals, fluorine reacts only slowly, except at sufficiently elevated temperatures. Under suitable conditions, it reacts spontaneously with most materials at room temperature except the inert gases, metal fluorides in their highest valence states, and carbon tetrachloride. Under some conditions, fluorine at atmospheric pressure can burn even steel equipment. For reasons unknown, fluorine does not always react with water, but at times the reaction may occur explosively. With the moisture of the air, it forms hydrogen fluoride and, possibly, oxygen fluoride, OF2." “Doctor, how does fluorine kill a person? Have scientists done some studies on how fluorine kills a man?” “Tarun, the only studies of the effects of exposure of animals to metered dilutions of fluorine in nitrogen were those made at the University of Rochester by a team led by Stokinger in 1949. They did a number of experiments on various animals, and let me tell you what they found. The gas was uniformly fatal to rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, and mice in exposures ranging from 5 minutes at a concentration of 10,000 parts per million (p.p.m.) to 3 hours at 200 p.p.m. Guinea pigs survived an exposure of 7 hours to 100 p.p.m., but the over-all mortality among the various species was 60 per cent. Respiratory damage, with swelling of the lungs - technically called pulmonary edema-, was the cause of death. More prolonged exposure, up to 35 days, was made to lesser concentrations. Irritation of the eyes and nasal and mouth mucosal lining was noted at concentrations of 5 to 10 p.p.m., and dogs exhibited irrational seizures, many of which were fatal. Moderate to severe lung irritation occurred at all levels down to 3 mg./cu. meter, and rats showed also a high degree of destruction of their testes at 25-mg. level. The tolerated exposure was taken as 1 p.p.m. (1.7 mg./cu. meter),and hydrogen fluoride and fluorine were regarded as independently toxic. The Rochester group also exposed the skin of the back of anesthetised rabbits for periods of 0.2 to 0.6 sec. at a distance of 1 in. to fluorine under 40 lb. pressure. The briefest exposure led to the appearance of a small area devoid of blood about 1/4 inch in diameter, surrounded by an reddened area. This became a superficial eschar that sloughed off by the fourth day, disclosing normal epidermis. The longer exposures were accompanied by a flash of flame, burning the hair and causing a special type of destruction - technically known as coagulation necrosis - of the burned area and charring of the epidermis. The thermal flash burns resembled those induced by an oxyacetylene flame.” “Sounds like a really dangerous gas. Doctor, you told me that Kalu worked in a factory from where he might have smuggled a canister of fluorine. Surely if Kalu works in a factory, he himself might be exposed to it. Has the government set up any regulations regarding it?” “No, to the best of my knowledge, there are no governmental regulations on the allowable concentrations of fluorine. But the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (1961) has recommended 0.1 p.p.m. as the threshold limit for fluorine. Apparently if the concentration increases beyond it, there is danger to one’s health.” “Doctor, now I know reasonably enough about fluorine. Please tell me how Kalu killed Ramlal with Fluorine” “Tarun, it was a very devilish plan. Kalu stole a canister of fluorine from where he was working. He was working in a chemical factory, and it was not difficult for him to do that. He knew about the killing potential of fluorine as he had studied chemistry upto college level and was reasonably conversant with all the chemicals, and their effects on the human body. He knew that if he released the gas in Ramlal’s house he would recognize the smell and would throw open the doors and windows of his house. So he decided to first lull his senses. For this purpose he came to Ramlal’s house along with a bottle of liquor. Did you notice that Shamu told us he had a big bag with him, and from it he took out a bottle of liquor to show him. I am sure that the canister of fluorine was also in the very same bag, but he did not take it out to show to Shamu. At Ramlal’s house, he said that he wanted friendship. Ramlal was also tired of day-to-day bickerings and he readily agreed for a drink. After two or three pegs, when Ramlal was quite tipsy, Kalu got up on the pretext of going to the bathroom. He furtively opened a nearby almirah, put the canister inside it, and slightly unscrewed its cap, so the gas could leak slowly into the room. After this he went to the bathroom. When he came back, he found Ramlal lying lazily in his bed, with his eyes closed. Kalu took leave of him, and came back to his house. Ramlal closed the door behind him, and came back to his bed to sleep. By this time, enough gas had not come out of the canister to arouse Ramlal’s suspicions. Anyway, Ramlal was drunk, and he was not in a position to recognize the special odor of fluorine. Soon he fell asleep. The concentration of fluorine increased in the house, and killed him in his sleep. Ramu did one mistake in his whole episode. He left the canister in the almirah. He never thought that our investigation can be so thorough. Anyway, this was the only way, he could ensure a gradual build-up of the gas in Ramlal’s house. Come, let us tell the police that Kalu has killed Ramlal, and that he should be caught” “That is very clever of you doctor. Without your clever deduction it would have been impossible to say how Ramlal died and Kalu may have gone scot-free. What are you going to tell me next time?” “Tarun, next time, I would tell you about a very interesting poison - Potassium Bromate."